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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29482074">The First Difference - Barb</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kupopopoyo/pseuds/kupopopoyo'>kupopopoyo</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Barb Lives! Shenanigans *Jazz Hands* [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stranger Things (TV 2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ensemble Cast, Gen, Justice for Barbara "Barb" Holland, Minor Character Death, Period-Typical Homophobia, Period-Typical Racism, season 1 rewrite</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:08:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>55,331</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29482074</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kupopopoyo/pseuds/kupopopoyo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Something catches Barb's eye that night at the pool. She lives the night, but with her fate altered, Hawkins as a whole is too.</p><p>A fanon retelling focusing on Steve, Nancy, Jonathan, and Barb (who lives). Expect things to follow the general events of the main series, but for bits with the four teens to deviate significantly.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Barb Lives! Shenanigans *Jazz Hands* [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2167509</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Moonlight in the Woods</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Barbs starts seeing and hearing things in the woods at Steve’s pool</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Content warning</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Evening of November 8th</b>
</p><p>Right. This was ok, Barb lied to herself. She was sitting alone at Steve’s pool, ditched by her best friend of almost ten years as everyone else in the house was getting it on with each other. God. She sighed, still having massive doubts about the whole thing. She still expected this to be an “I told you so” moment that she didn’t actually want to drop on Nancy’s head. There was no way Steve’s nice guy act was real, but Nancy was falling for it hook line, sinker. Now she couldn’t even bring herself to turn back and risk seeing Nancy getting her freak on with Steve through a window, God no.<br/>
</p><p>His poofy hair didn’t even look that good.<br/>
</p><p>She was so determined not to look back at the house that she saw something else in the woods. A glimmer in the pale moonlight and shadows. She leaned to the side. “Hello?” The bushes rustled, and she heard a soft boyish muttering.<br/>
</p><p>The insults, rejection, disdain heaped on Barb had piled up all night and now Barb finally saw red. “Not enough that you drag Nancy into this mess, but think you can pull a fast one on me?” Barb launched herself into motion and tore into the bushes. The greenery rustled ahead of her and Barb, tired of being ignored, tired of the being the butt of the joke, gave chase as she cinched the tourniquet on her hand a bit tighter. The last thing she needed was hurting it worse and slowing her down. A good bit out into the woods from Steve’s house, she caught up with her mysterious company.<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan fucking Byers. Scrabbling in the dirt with his camera caught on a branch no less. “Well, what do we have here.“ She stomped on the strap of the camera and Jonathan froze, the two of them staring at each other in the still night.<br/>
</p><p>Then splashing from behind made them both turn back to the pool. Someone slinked into the pool with the barest of splashes.<br/>
</p><p>Barb had the awful feeling she’d been played as she turned to yell at the pool, “Yeah, you’re not as smooth as - ” She stopped herself. There was no way Jonathan was in with Steve’s crowd, even to play a prank at her or Nancy’s expense. She turned back at him, fierce, annoyed, her hand still stinging from the cut. “What the hell are you playing at here Byers?”<br/>
</p><p>“I’m not playing, I-I-I,” he licks his lips, “I’m putting out flyers for my brother.”<br/>
</p><p>Barb’s brows mashed together. “In the woods? At night? What the actual, h-h-hell?” she struggled out. She cursed. She never cursed. <i>(“A young lady never curses!” her father scolded)</i> She turned back and called out, “Hey, someone go get Steve.” She didn’t hate Jonathan, not the way everyone else thought he was weird. Tonight though, Byers was acting on a whole other level of creep here. “And give me that,” she snapped, seizing the camera and yanking it roughly as Byers stumbled and the strap slipped over his head.<br/>
</p><p>“No, hey, give it back,” that apparently broke Byers out of his guilty funk, but Barb didn’t buy it.<br/>
</p><p>“What are you even doing here Byers? Are you actually cruising for a bruising?” Barb could not believe this evening could get any worse. “Hey!” she called back again, “seriously, get Steve. I’m not,” joking? Kidding? Her? Barbara the Bump? Couldn’t even be a wallflower Barbara (“You’re just a Bump in the curtains”), because she’s so damn plain Barbara? Her words faltered and she scurried over to the pool. “Hello? I’m not trying to cause more...” Her words died as she ran up to the edge of the pool. It burbled and splashed at its rim, blue, and empty as when she sat there a short while ago. “I could’ve sworn...” She turned. It’s the look of confusion on Jonathan’s face that made her ask. “You saw someone out here too didn’t you?” He shrugged, looking anywhere but at her face.<br/>
</p><p>Barb scowled and then froze as she stared at where she sat not a few minutes ago. In her rush to catch Byers, the blood dripping from her hand left a trail. Stepping closer to that trail, in it was the smudge of a veiny, marbled, completely inhuman footprint.</p><p> </p><p>The pounding at the door made them jump apart, Nancy pulling the covers up as Steve smacked the headboard. “What the hell Tommy,” he began only for them to hear through the door:<br/>
</p><p>“Nancy? Steve? Please?” Barb’s voice was high and thin as the pounding continued.<br/>
</p><p>“Seriously Bump?” Steve was churlish as he threw out the insult, and even Nancy felt her temper flare. No, not at Steve and his gentle fingers but...<br/>
</p><p>“Nancy, please,” Barbara’s plea was nervous and held a tremor like it did after the time Nancy convinced her to try the big drop at Six Flags despite the other girl’s fear of heights. That made Nancy frown and start shuffling out of bed. Steve was right behind her with a sigh, though he was thoughtful enough to point out where her underwear was and offered up her blouse, readily.<br/>
</p><p>It made her smile crookedly. “What a gentleman Mr. Harrington.”<br/>
</p><p>“That’s me, a true gentleman,” Steve smirked back, taking her hand in his and pressing a kiss to the fingertips.<br/>
</p><p>The pounding abruptly stopped and then they heard Carol, shrill and in shock, “the fuck?” Frowning, even still shirtless, Steve reached out to unlock and open the door.<br/>
</p><p>Barb was standing there, clutching a camera as she talked fast to Carol and Tommy, the couple equally as disheveled as Nancy and Steve. It was the fact that Jonathan Byers of all fucking people was with her that made Nancy pull up short.<br/>
</p><p>“Byers?” Steve pushed past her and body checked him into the wall. “What the hell are you doing here?” Steve grabbed him by the collar with both hands. “You’re trespassing on private property,” Steve leaned in close as Jonathans kicked at the air and swallowed wordlessly, “freak.”<br/>
</p><p>A sticky hand grabbed his. “Steve,” it was Barb. “Steve, something weird, really weird just happened.”<br/>
</p><p>“You’re drunk Bump,” Tommy hollered, “Go home already you frumpy bitch.”<br/>
</p><p>Barb didn’t even respond to the insult, her eyes on Steve, pleading. Steve could be a jerk, but it was the fear in her eyes that had him setting down Byers. He frowned at the bloody handprint Barb left on his arm as she stepped back herself. “You should get that looked at Holland.”<br/>
</p><p>“Steve, please, there’s something weird with your pool.”<br/>
</p><p>They all followed, half-drunk still, fully tired, and not understanding or making any sense of her panicked explanation. Steve pushed Jonathan forward like he was a prisoner of war as she got to explaining how she caught him lurking in the woods. “The fuck stalker, you getting off on this shit?” Steve nearly pushed Jonathan all the way down the stairs. Nancy felt a protest lodge in her throat, but it was Barb who caught Jonathan and pulled him away from Steve. Nancy’s eyes barely flickered over the way her friend’s hands were white at the knuckle from gripping the loner boy as they led the group out to the pool.<br/>
</p><p>“Here,” Barb intoned. There was a burning look in her eyes as she faced the group. Nancy got the notion that Barb’s fierce gaze was for her.<br/>
</p><p>“Ewww, Barb, if its that time of month you really should just use a pad, you know?” Carol mocked, witty and cruel.<br/>
</p><p>“Ugh, gross,” Tommy pretended to heave and then he and Carol burst into laughter, leaning into each other, still wasted out of their little teen minds.<br/>
</p><p>“Nancy, look here,” Barb was defiant, also shaking in rage (fear? her lips are trembling) and pointed to a spot where the blood was smeared.<br/>
</p><p>“Holland, you’re turning out to be a real drag tonight, you know that?” Steve leaned on Nancy, gently ribbing her like it was all some kind of joke and she should be laughing now.<br/>
</p><p>“Nancy,” she looked back at Barb, only now realizing she had turned away from the other girl, trying to ignore the flush creeping up her collarbone. “Tell me you see this.” The other girl’s face was falling, turning inwards.  There were tears at her eyes and Nancy felt like the two of them were standing on opposite edges of a crumbling precipice, not Steve’s gently steaming pool as Tommy and Carol laughed and whispered drunkenly to each other at the top of their lungs.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy pulled away from Steve, following the arch of Barb’s arm, pointing to a spot where the blood was drying, dark as ink in the night. There was a smudge, a streak and Nancy blinked, rubbing her eyes as she tried to focus, block out Barb’s sudden whoop, as she kneeled and –<br/>
</p><p>Spluttered, as she took a face full of pool water the second time that night. Tommy and Carol were cackling, Steve shaking and making whining sounds as he held back laughter of his own. Nancy wiped water from her face, coughing some up as she made out Barb fumble at the edge of the pool. The other girl’s glasses were just barely hanging off one ear as she flailed blindly trying to pull herself up.<br/>
</p><p>“Barb...”<br/>
</p><p>It was Jonathan that spoke and he was the one pulling her friend out of the pool. Barb hacked and coughed, as Jonathan turned to the others. “Why’d you push her?” He wasn’t stuttering anymore, not when he was white with anger, Nancy noticed.<br/>
</p><p>“Nancy?” Barb whined softly, looking lost as she fumbled her glasses back on right. Then when she could see again, she looked down and gasped. The blood was washing away clean, vanishing like smoke in the wind as the water dripped, dripped, dripped off of Barb. Barb who reached out and grabbed Nancy by the shoulders. “You saw it, right? That footprint?”<br/>
</p><p>“Footprint?” Tommy snorted.<br/>
</p><p>“Oh my gaaaawd,” Carol drawled. “Bump, you seeing things now? What, did Bigfoot come and dip his toesies in Steve’s pool?”<br/>
</p><p>“Bigfoot?” Tommy’s eyes lit up, “Hey that’s great, trying to score and move up in the world Bump? Looking to move into the big leagues with Bigfoot? You’re the right size for it!”<br/>
</p><p>“Nancy?” Barb pleaded eyes on her in such desperate fear that the cruel words were going right over her head.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy spluttered, there was still water that burned in her throat, and her head was starting to pound with the beer she chugged and the gentle bruises Steve left on her body. She shuddered, “Barb, let go,” her voice was harsh as she coughed up some more pool water. “Barb,” she repeated thickly as the other girl froze.<br/>
</p><p>Carol and Tommy had continued with their verbal barbs the entire time, “...like, like a beached whale! That’s it, fucking Barb the beached whale!” Carol was shrieking the last bit as Tommy fell over like an idiot and Steve was full out laughing.<br/>
</p><p>“Nancy?” Barb sounded lost as Nancy pulled out of her grip and shouldered her way over to Steve.<br/>
</p><p>“S-sorry Steve, do you have, uhm, another towel I can borrow?”<br/>
</p><p>Steve seemed to compose himself immediately and gave her a soft, fond smile. “For you? Anything my lady,” Steve offered with a sweep of his arm his head bowed. A smile wormed its way onto Nancy’s face.<br/>
</p><p>“Nancy?” Barb repeated from behind her yet again, voice cracking.<br/>
</p><p>She couldn’t look back, not at just then. Her head was pounding, pool water was in her ear and won’t come out, and Barb was really getting on her nerves. “Just. Just...just go home Barb, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” She walked into the house, missing how Tommy and Carol made “oooh” noises at each other.<br/>
</p><p>Steve followed after Nancy. “You’re lucky I’m in a good mood Byers. Get the fuck out of my house and don’t let me ever catch you here again,” he called over his shoulder. In moments, Barb and Jonathan were left alone at the pool. Barb took a shuddering breath, tears streaming and hidden by the dripping pool water, as she wordlessly got up and shuffled out of the yard.</p><p> </p><p>Barb was halfway to her car, when she heard a, “Hey, wait up!”<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan caught up as she turned, a soggy, sad mess. “Go the fuck away creep!” Barb hollered in his startled face. He was lucky that she parked on the side of the Harrington estate where it was woods and not more rich peoples’ mansions. More well dressed, pampered neighbors looking out their windows down their well-bred noses at the middle- and lower-class trash wailing into the night. “You fucking stalker!” Barb wanted to toss his camera at the ground. She had forgotten that she still had it. It was soaked, like her, and a part of her was tempted to smash the damn thing into bits there and now. But she was tired, hurt, and freshly betrayed for a jerk and his two asshole friends. Even that rage she felt for Jonathan earlier in the night seemed out of reach and so long ago compared to the fresh heat burrowing in her chest. She dropped the camera. “Never let me catch you with that camera around,” she couldn’t even say her name. She couldn’t do it, and the heat in her breast blazed into fresh fury. “...me, ever again.” Barb warned as she just stomped <i>(“A proper lady never stomps!” her mother’s voice briskly reminded her)</i> her way back to where she parked.<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan didn’t follow. Or if he did, Barb didn’t actually know or care to look back. She simply trudged her way the rest of the trail to the car to sit in it, soaking with her hand still stinging at the sloppy tea towel wrapped around her palm. Automatically, she put the key in, started ignition and grasped the shift. But she lingered a moment, tears still streaming down her face. “How could you? How could you! Nancy!” Barb screamed her hurt into the cramped space of her little Cabrio. She pounded the window with her left hand and couldn’t see for the tears, anger still fresh on her bruised ego. Still, she dashed them on her soaking sleeve reaching forward.<br/>
</p><p>Something slammed on the front of her car, and Barb shrieked. Her foot floored on the accelerator as a dark shape shuddered and slid down the front of her car. The Cabrio shook and groaned, something wailing underneath, its cries shrill and inhuman - how could that possibly be human? – as the little Rabbit Cabriolet shook like trying to bounce over shattered gravel and rock. Then, the tires hit clear road and burned rubber into the night.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Warning for body shaming towards Barb<br/>AND<br/>Warning for stalker/rapist tendencies and implications with Jonathan's noxious creeping</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. School Fights and Christmas Lights</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Things diverge further with Jonathan and he sees something miraculously awful.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Content warning</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Morning of November 9th</b>
</p><p>Jonathan was at school early, as early as possible. The moment he saw the janitor unlocked the door, he slid his way past, heading straight to the developing room. The roll of film from last night kept him from completely losing it. If he could get here first thing and develop it, he could at least know if the last few days of photos were completely lost or not. Running through the routine of what he had to do to check it in his mind helped him from joining his mother as a sobbing mess on the couch last night. She must have hit the drink, even though she wasn’t like that and there wasn’t a drop in the house. She certainly didn’t smell like it, but why else would she be babbling about Will’s room playing music by itself and the wall moving? They sat like that holding each other for hours, waiting for the good word that never came from the police, the search parties, anyone looking for -.<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan pulled himself out of his thoughts, checking the developer solution was ready and the door was closed properly – it caught, sometimes, and that was a stupid way to lose work – behind him. He couldn’t fall apart, not now when his mother was already checking out in her grief.<br/>
</p><p>He lost himself in the exacting work of unrolling the film, the periodic jostling of the solution to spread evenly, and finally clipping the drying film carefully into place to ensure the pictures wouldn’t curl in on themselves. It was time consuming and took all his attention, but soothing and every bit art as...<br/>
</p><p>This once, he would admit that Will’s art was better. And Jonathan tried to keep his heart from folding in on itself.<br/>
</p><p>Once the negatives were hanging, Jonathan recalled the stack of posters still in his bag, grabbed a fresh stapler off the desk in the room and headed out, mission on his mind.</p><p>At lunch period, still stapling posters and appetite nowhere to be found, a hand on his shoulder made him turn. Jonathan was not expecting to see Nancy Wheeler there. Guilt pooled in his stomach, gripping his throat closed as he remembered her warm, kind sympathies the day before, the contrast of her mute observation as Steve and his friends took the piss out of him and Barb. Not to mention his own impulsive indiscretion just before.<br/>
</p><p>She looked stressed, rumpled, without even the modest hints of makeup she usually had on. Instead, Nancy chewed on her lip as they eyed each other in silence and she was the first to break it. “I’m, uh...” And just like that they fell back into silence. They used to get along once. At least, not used to be as awkward as this, rolling their eyes in sync as their brothers shrieked in the playground at each other. “Have you seen Barb?” Nancy finally choked out. “I haven’t seen her all day and she’s not in any of her classes.”<br/>
</p><p>Still not trusting his voice, Jonathan gave her a helpless shrug.<br/>
</p><p>Bad move. Nancy’s fumbled for words, then her eyes narrowed. “Jonathan. How do I know you didn’t do something? After last night?” A shocked look flashed across her face. “If you went after Barb after you did something to make Will diss-“<br/>
</p><p>She didn’t finish that word before the posters and stapler bounced to the floor and Jonathan was in her face. “I would never do anything, ANYTHING, to hurt Will.” His voice sounded weird, harsh and far too much Lonnie in it, to his own ears. His hands bunched up in her meek sweater as he held her up with the odd memory of Steve doing the same last night. “How dare you even think of accusing me, after the way you ditched Barb for the likes of –“<br/>
</p><p>A punch made him drop Nancy and sent him sprawling, vision spinning as he smacked into the ground, both sides of his face on fire from the impact and punch respectively.<br/>
</p><p>“Byers, you just graduated from creep to stalker to full on pervert, and I’ve got to say,” hands pulled him up and things had all gone full circle. Steve pulled Jonathan up close enough to his face enough that Jonathan could clearly see the wild light in the other boy’s eyes, “I always hoped you could’ve done better.” Another punch and Jonathan couldn’t see, everything dissolving to white. A third blow knocked the wind out of his lungs and he collapsed to his knees, only for one more blow to the jaw push Jonathan into darkness. The last thing he saw was Will’s crying face.</p><p> </p><p>When he woke up and pulled himself, aching to sit up, Jonathan was at home. He recognized the tattered wallpaper and the feel of the worn-out couch under him even if the aches and bruises were relatively new. Shit, he hadn’t been this beat up since...<br/>
</p><p>Instead of Lonnie, memories surged back of Steve pounding on him and Nancy’s shocked face as the world faded from his awareness.<br/>
</p><p>Shit.<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan tried to pull himself to his feet and just about made it when he sat back on the couch, hard, in confusion. “The fuck?” he asked the Christmas lights strung around the living room. Not just the living room, his gaze followed them all across the ceiling to where they were strung around the house to the kitchen, and down the hall out of sight. Convinced he was losing his mind, he turned and saw a crude display of painted letters and lights on the wall. “The hell?” he croaked.<br/>
</p><p>“Jonathan!”<br/>
</p><p>His mother popped out from the hall and ducked into the kitchen. “Oh good, you’re awake. I was so worried when Ho- the police called me and had to drop you off.” Her voice drifted out, distracted and husky with lack of sleep like the last three days. “What happened? Why would the Harrington boy pick a fight with you?” The choice of words were a bit harsh, but Joyce’s voice was concerned and soothing as she bustled out. With one hand, she pressed a fresh bag of frozen peas to his swollen left eye as she picked up the half melted one that had slid off of him.<br/>
</p><p>“I – He – There was...Mom what the hell is this?” Jonathan couldn’t stop himself from asking.<br/>
</p><p>Joyce paused, but then she slumped, sitting on the coffee table across from him so they could sit face to face. “Look, Jonathan. Just hear me out.I know this is going to sound crazy, but...”<br/>
</p><p>Then Jonathan’s mind started working again and he remembered the conversation this morning before he left. He buried his face in his hands, wincing and retreating as his bruises screamed. “Not the lights again, mom.”<br/>
</p><p>“I’m not joking about this Jonathan, you think I would joke about Will?” her voice was strangled with the effort to say his name and it made Jonathan’s throat close up too.<br/>
</p><p>“Did anyone else see you like this?” Jonathan finally was able to force the words out. He was used to name calling. Loner, quiet one, oddball, weirdo, creeper, stalker,<br/>
</p><p>
  <i>“Pervert” Steve hissed into his face.
</i>
</p><p>
Jonathan looked up, knowing the rumors, the less than unkind words that Hawkins, Indiana had for a single, working mother of two boys. He drove them from his mind, but he found himself looking his mother in the eye and<br/>
</p><p>
      <i>“you could’ve done better” Steve hisses into his face.
</i>
</p><p>The light in her mother’s eyes just then was a good match for Steve’s before he knocked Jonathan out, and his stomach clenched colder than the ice pack on his face. He couldn’t look her in the face just then.
</p><p>Joyce wavered. “The Wheelers dropped by with a casserole earlier, let me go get you a piece.” She sounded a bit disappointed, but also defiant as she got to her feet which walked out of the range of vision Jonathan’s hanging, bruised face could see.<br/>
</p><p>They sat there in the living room for who knew how long, casserole untouched on two paper plates. The paper plates were getting soggy with grease, but they were all they had to eat off. The sink was overflowing with dirty dishes.<br/>
</p><p>Neither of them wanted to admit to remembering Will promising to do the dishes when he got back home before...this...<br/>
</p><p>“Are you doing, ok? At school I mean?” Joyce Byers was at wits end, but she had two sons and the one she could do something about was sitting in front of her.<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan’s eyes flicked her way and then away again, tracing the path of the Christmas lights on the ceiling for the umpteenth time this evening. Finally he licked his lips. “I think...I think I fucked up big time.”<br/>
</p><p>Joyce softened at that. “Honey, I know it’s not easy for you to communicate with other people, sometimes it takes time,” she tried reassuring him.<br/>
</p><p>He thought about all the time it took to watch Barb alone at the pool, how much time he spent lining up the shot of Nancy through the window. Jonathan’s stomach somehow turned again despite the emotional and physical trauma just this day and he was so glad he had not touched Ms. Wheeler's famous tuna noodle casserole.<br/>
</p><p>“Oh Jonathan,” Joyce felt her heart break. “You act like you’re all alone out there in the world, but you’re not. You’re not alone,” Joyce whispered, reaching out. Jonathan felt a jolt. Did she think he was mad at her? He wasn’t mad at her, how could he? He worried about her as much as she worried about him and they worried about Will all the time together, so he took her hand in his. They were upset, grieving, hoping against the despair closing in on their fragile home.<br/>
</p><p>“I know mom, I know.”<br/>
</p><p>It was worth it for the tearful smile as Joyce sniffed and squeezed her firstborn’s son’s hand tight and Jonathan, felt his heart lighten just a bit.<br/>
</p><p>Then the lights started flickering.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh my god,” Jonathan was in tears pulling at his hair as Will talked to them through the Christmas lights.<br/>
</p><p>I-M-R-I-G-H-T-H-E-R-E the alphabet lights flashed.<br/>
</p><p>He would never doubt his mother again.<br/>
</p><p>“R-r-right here?” Joyce stammered, wheeling about in confusion, as if Will might pop out the wall saying “surprise.” “I don’t know what that means. I need you to tell me what to do. What should I do? How do I get to you? How do I find you? What should I do?”<br/>
</p><p>The lights stilled, unable to answer her.<br/>
</p><p>“Will,” Jonathan finally spoke up, “How do we find you?”<br/>
</p><p>Then the lights started flashing again.<br/>
</p><p>"R-U-N, run?” Joyce asked, looking to Jonathan in confusion.<br/>
</p><p>He wasn’t looking at her or the lights now not sending any message, just shuddering and flickering at random. He had to have a concussion, brain damage, something, because the wall next to the TV could not be doing that. Twisting and stretching as a hand, no a claw - something man shaped, but far too slender, long, and clawed was making the wall bubble, warp, and then burst as<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan grabbed his mother and ran. He pulled her, nearly sending them both sprawling as her foot caught on the coffee table. There was a whistling sound, then a bestial roar behind them as Joyce shrieked, screaming like Jonathan had never heard before. His own throat wasn’t working, lightheaded with panic as he knocked the screen door near out of the frame and pulled his mother into the cold November evening.<br/>
</p><p>They retreated to the end of the driveway, his mother a sobbing mess yet again, and Jonathan needed to remember how to breathe because his chest was on fire and his throat was still not working.<br/>
</p><p>Then the woods lit up in blue and red as the sound of police sirens finally reached his ears.</p><p> </p><p>“There’s nothing here ma’am.” Callahan told them, eyes odd as he watched them. “Apart from you getting a head start on the holidays, nothing out of the ordinary.” The joke was weak and Hopper sighed as Joyce stared at the wall of her living room with a glazed look. Next to her, Jonathan looked like he was going to punch the other officer.<br/>
</p><p>Hopper finally pushed his coworker out of the way and pulled Joyce aside. “Joyce, Jonathan, there’s something we need to tell you. The, uhm, state troopers found something down at the quarry…”<br/>
</p><p>He understood Joyce shaking her head, talking about Will and the lights. The awful bit was Jonathan, red eyed, wordless, standing by her, hands clasped tightly with hers. As Hopper tried to relate with a story about Sarah, Jonathan gave him a pointed look and Hopper’s words died on his tongue. Christ, was he going to need to set a patrol to keep an eye on these two?<br/>
</p><p>“Come to the morgue tomorrow morning. Both of you. Please.” If it were just Joyce, maybe he could pull at their history together enough to get her to play along. But now it looked like it would be a fulltime job keeping Will Byers from taking his mother and brother to the grave with him.<br/>
</p><p>In the end he just stood there, in silent shock with a mutinous Callahan and Powell. They were muttering about drugs, and hysteria, about sending out for a shrink. Hopper honestly didn’t know what to do about the fact that Jonathan Byers just pushed them out the door and slammed it in their faces.</p><p>
  <b>Morning of November 10th</b>
</p><p>Joyce shook Jonathan awake. He blinked up at her with reddened, itchy eyes, David Bowie still crooning “Heroes” through his headset.<br/>
</p><p>“You should go to school,” Joyce said softly, cupping his face with her hand. He protested feebly, but for the first time in days, Joyce, still disheveled and looking like she hadn’t slept a wink all night, was the voice of reason saying, “I’ll be here. I’ll call the school if anything happens, but…you saw the cops last night. You heard them. We need to pretend that things are normal. Can’t let them take us away from him.” The thought that someone might try and force them away from the house, from Will, filled his veins with ice and he was wide awake then. “I don’t want to ask you to carry this on your shoulders…,”<br/>
</p><p>He was already nodding, hands curled around hers. “You’re right mom. You’re always right. I’ll go. Just, be careful, and…” Joyce gave him an inquisitive look, “can I get a hug before I go?”<br/>
</p><p>“Oh Jonathan,” she whispered, pulling him close. “We’re going to get him back,” she promised. “We’re going to bring him home.”<br/>
</p><p>Before he left for school, he got the old wood axe out of the shed. He pulled out from their driveway, a whole conversation with just their eyes as he went to face the world and Joyce’s hands tightened around the axe. He left her there standing on the front porch of their haunted house and they both looked like they were seeing each other off to the worse fate.</p><p> </p><p>Jonathan should’ve gotten in a fight ages ago. The other teenagers were parting for him like he was a freaking prophet. He ignored his locker; he didn’t have his homework and somehow making sure he had the right textbooks for the school days was pretty down on his list of priorities. All Jonathan did was stalk through the halls thinking the darkroom would be a great refuge <i>(“I get it kid, I do,” Mr. Grifford promised, the only teacher at Hawkins high that seemed to see Jonathan and backed that promise up with a key)</i> Years of experience left him numb to the stares, the whispers, the hisses of “crazy” or “psycho.” At least the bruises weren’t from Lonnie this time. He was fucked up, but he wasn’t just the victim son of an abusive father this time!<br/>
</p><p>He passed Nancy without a word, but she was the first to give him something worse than the whispers. There was pity on some of the faces he passed, and soft murmurs of “the body,” “in the quarry,” and “mad with grief, that’s what the cops said.” Pity and also something that looked guilt. He gave her the finger and couldn’t even be bothered to slow in defiance or thanks as she held a hand out to keep Steve from rising like a bull and he was the one waving a red flag.<br/>
</p><p>In the end, there was only one person who dared to try to talk to him, catching up to him outside the development room.<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Warning for bullying and violent assault towards Jonathan<br/>AND<br/>Warning for assault to women towards Nancy<br/>AND<br/>Warning for implications of domestic violence and abuse towards the Byers from Lonnie</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Missing Girl</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Barb doesn’t come to school.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Content warning</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Evening of November 8th</b>
</p><p>“Ugh, Barb’s such a bitch,” Tommy whined from somewhere behind Nancy as she re-entered Steve’s freak-off huge mansion.<br/>
</p><p>“I thought we agreed she was a whale,” Carols reminded him.<br/>
</p><p>“Nah, totally Bigfoots girlfriend,” he replied and they dissolved into more giggles.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy rubbed at her head, the pair’s loud voices pounding as they bounced around the house and her skull. She was struggling between nausea, guilt, and humiliated anger at the way Barb just wouldn’t stop being so clingy that evening. Taking a moment, she paused by the island, closing her eyes and resting her head on the cool, marbled counter. She tuned out the murmuring and the whispers, when something fluffy and soft was draped around her shoulders.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy opened her eyes to Steve tuck the towel around her firmly and met his soft, kind eyes, genuine in their concern. “Wheeler, you need anything? Not looking that well.”<br/>
</p><p>“Wow, way to compliment the lady,” Carol was quick to tease Steve as he rolled his eyes at them and flipped her off. Then Nancy was caught up again in the full weight of his concern as he held out a hand and she felt rough, slightly chapped, but warm fingers resting against her forehead.<br/>
</p><p>“Fuck you Carol,” he said when he was satisfied she wasn’t coming down with something.<br/>
</p><p>“Hey,” Tommy’s whine was oddly petulant and defensive as Nancy watched him pull Carol into a hug. “You better not be thinking of laying a hand on my girl Harrington.”<br/>
</p><p>Carol spluttered laughter, Tommy making her nearly drop her freshly cracked beer. “Oh my god Tommy, stop being such a whiny ass,” she slapped his arm, but it was light and fond as she leaned into him and he buried his face in her hair in turn. “You are sooo drunk, dumb ass.”<br/>
</p><p>“I know you are, but what am I?” Tommy slurred drowsily as he pulled her close and leaned against the sofa cushion. Nancy was happy to just watch still, somewhat fascinated as Carol hummed and ran a finger through the sleepy boy’s hair. A few minutes later, he was snoring and out like a light.<br/>
</p><p>“And we have the first casualty of the night,” Steve snorted, looking amused, but not entirely surprised. “Congrats Wheeler, you have officially proved your seniority over Tommy boy.”<br/>
</p><p>“Hmm, she did that at 8:00 after the second martini she threw back on top of the beers,” Carol was still petting Tommy’s fluffy head of hair.<br/>
</p><p>Steve made a face, “You and your girly drinks,” he muttered.<br/>
</p><p>“Not our fault we girls need ‘em hard,” Carol laughed. “The drinks. The drinks, hair for brains!” she scolded as Steve smirked at her and Nancy felt her face heat up. “God you are such shit at this. Steve,” she snapped her fingers, “Remember our talk? Go, I know you half-assed it.”<br/>
</p><p>He frowned and pulled away, but not before pressing a kiss to the top of Nancy’s head. “Come up when you’re feeling better babe, I’ll be waiting for you.”<br/>
</p><p>“Up,” Carol reiterated.<br/>
</p><p>“Hey, you’re ruining things,” Steve tried to protest, but it was weak and good natured, no heat to it. Anyways, Steve was already halfway out the door of the kitchen.<br/>
</p><p>“Up. God, you men are helpless without us aren’t you?” She held up a hand, “Yes, yes you are.”<br/>
</p><p>He flipped her off and left, leaving Nancy self-conscious with a snoozing Tommy and Carol as the other’s eyes pinned her in place. “Wheeler,” she grinned sharply, and Nancy pulled the towel closer around her. “We need to have a little talk.”<br/>
</p><p>“Oh?” Nancy tried to sound aloof, untouchable and fight the nerves fluttering in her heart. “What do you mean?”<br/>
</p><p>“You can drop the church girl act,” Carol didn’t look unamused, but there was a wicked edge to her expression as she crossed her arms. “We both know you ain’t as pure as the driven snow, not after the last hour,” she smirked watching Nancy get more and more flustered. “Steve, oh Steve, yes, there!” she mocked in a flailing falsetto. Whatever she saw in Nancy’s face she grinned, “Oh ho, you actually sounded like that? Relax Wheeler, I didn’t hear you getting your freak on with Steve any more than you did me and Tommy with Steve playing that godawful mixtape he showed me. Remember where we are? Papa Harrington’s not good at springing for a house with all his money if little Stevie could hear daddy banging his nannies through the walls.” She giggled at Nancy and sang, “You could kill someone in the next room and no one would be the wiser.”<br/>
</p><p>“You are so gross,” Nancy shuddered with disgust as Carol offhandedly lit up a cigarette and planted herself in the chair right nearby.<br/>
</p><p>“Who me? Harrington’s, aka the boy whose pants you are totally getting into, childhood friend and the school’s queen bitch who will ruin you if you do a thing to mess him up?” There was a flat menace in her eyes that made Nancy’s skin crawl and she had to fight and not look away. Instead, she raised her chin in a challenge.<br/>
</p><p>After the clock ticked by a steady countdown through the stare off, something in Carol relaxed. “So maybe you aren’t just a good old Hoosier church girl, after all,” she smirked. Then her face went stony again. “Don’t think I won’t have my eyes on you Wheeler. I see you using Steve like a gold digger, or just looking to jump ahead in the school’s royal court, I will not hesitate to take you down like the stuck up bitch you are.”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy was shaking, but she was having a hard time picking and decided it was as much rage as it was nervous fear. “Wouldn’t you now? Just as shallow as anyone says, all you think about is how much to hurt people. How do I know you’re not the one using Steve, and - and Tommy?”<br/>
</p><p>Carol’s left brow went up and her lip curled upwards. “Hmmm, daddy’s little girl got bite. Been a while since someone bitched at me when I’m dishing it out,” She took another hit of her cigarette, eyes glimmering coldly as it caught the glow in the night-dark kitchen. “Last one of Steve’s girls who tried to break out claws was...let’s see…” Carol didn’t need a moment to recall that, her glare made it clear that this was a show with a very pointed message. “Laurie. And you remember what happened to her…”<br/>
</p><p>There was a threat, a promise of one in that implication because of course Nancy remembered Laurie P. The type that became a cheerleader with a mean streak for picking on the nerds and calling Barb nasty, cruel things because of her body. The kind of girl that thought Steve and her would be the power couple to rule the school - and they did. Up until word spread about a fight and Laurie stopped coming to school. Next thing anyone knew, her family’s house went up for sale and no one heard from her again. But there were rumors, always rumors about a bloody vengeance and, yeah it was only last year. Last year, that the school got around to replace stalls in all the girls restrooms across school because they couldn't find a way to remove all the creative things about Laurie that someone had written all over them.<br/>
</p><p>She and Barb were so happy to get Laurie out of their hair they went out for milkshakes and laughed themselves silly about all the ways the other girl got what had been long coming and the best insults they had found around school.<br/>
</p><p>“Shame, real shame what happened to her,” Nancy said and there wasn’t an ounce of pity or good old Midwestern courtesy in her as she shot Carol a nasty smile. “Couldn’t have thought of anyone who didn’t deserve it less,” the sarcasm dripping from her voice like the ashes from Carol’s cigarette.<br/>
</p><p>At last, something like approval dawned in Carol’s eyes. “Absolutely,” she puffs another cloud of smoke. “So remember that, if you’re using Steve and you hurt him in any way, I will put you and your good little choir-blessed name in the ground Wheeler.” She huffed, that approval mixing in respect as Nancy gave her a still alcohol-shaky salute. “God, you got guts. Maybe you’re more fun than I thought.”<br/>
</p><p>It had to be because she was drunk, because why couldn’t she just let laying dogs lie could she? “Why are you so defensive about Steve?” she tripped up on her own curiosity, and then since she asked already, “I mean, you’re with Tommy, not Steve.”<br/>
</p><p>Carol gave her a hard look again like any goodwill between them had become so much smoke in the wind. Finally, she ground out the bud of her cigarette on the counter and tossed it into the sink. “Big house like this, always ready for a party. Sometimes a boy gets lonely,” Carol was choosing her words carefully, considering Nancy behind hooded eyelids “All the money in the world can’t make up for being a fucked up dad, and Tommy, Stevie, and I? We know.” There was a history here that Nancy knew she just stepped in, and she nodded quickly, trying to extricate herself before the trap of that quicksand pulled her in. “See, Stevie’s got this sentimental streak. He’s too nice, always has been. I know where my loyalties lie Wheeler, you bet your candy ass I’m watching to see where we’ll find yours. He deserves real happiness, not this teenage bullshit getting his dick wet and his heart hurt.”<br/>
</p><p>“He is really sweet isn’t he?” Nancy found the courage to put out there.<br/>
</p><p>Carol sighed, and the moment passed. Then she was digging in her pocket, pulling out a box of smokes and shaking it, empty. Disappointed, she tossed it onto the counter and reached for her purse, pulling out a fresh pack still in its little plastic wrapping. “Yes he is. Not that it does anything for me..,” she added, eyes on Nancy in a warning. “Now get out of here Wheeler, I need air and a smoke before Stevie drives me into an early grave.”<br/>
</p><p>“You really are a good friend underneath all that aren’t you?”<br/>
</p><p>Carol waved the knife Nancy and Barb used to open their beers earlier that she’d picked up, but there was no threat. Just Carol holding her cigarettes in the other hand and waving her upstairs. “Stevie’s waiting and your goodie-little-too-shoes act ain’t cute Wheeler, shoo!”<br/>
Nancy shook her head and finally left the other girl to it. Trying the door to Steve’s room, she rattled it, finding it locked and frowned.<br/>
</p><p>“Nance? Hold on, be right there.”<br/>
</p><p>And then Steve pulled the door open. Only this time there was no passionate, drunk desperation. Only Steve shuffling and looking unexpectedly nervous as he moved to let her in. Nancy entered and stopped, admiring the warm candlelight brightening the gloom of a deepening November evening as slow jazz played instead of the pop hits Steve had on earlier. “It’s not too much, is it?” Steve was shifting from one foot to the other nervous as he closed the door and looked too nervous to meet her eyes.<br/>
</p><p>“You are a true gentleman,” Nancy decided. It was the right thing to say as Steve turned and gave her a shy, but such a happy and bright eyed smile as she reached out and pulled him into a kiss. Together they fumbled back towards his bed. </p><p> <b>Morning of November 9th</b></p><p> Waking up with Steve felt like a dream, snuggling close as he wrapped an arm around her. Up until the point that the alarm made her double take and dive for her clothes. </p><p>“Thought you could sleep in a bit, angel,” Steve muttered from where she tumbled out of his arms.<br/>
</p><p>“Steve, you’re really sweet, but I have a history test today and I,” she stammered. Oh God, she was being a total loser now, caring about a history test of all things!<br/>
</p><p>But, Steve was just nodding along, already rolling out of bed and getting a fresh change of clothes. “Ok, ok, I’ll drive you. Are you sure you don’t want a shower though?”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy bit her lip, but they were going to be late anyways, and the test wasn’t until third period. And as fun as last night was, she really did need a shower at least. Steve was all casual like being late was no big deal and part of her mind flickered back to Carol’s conversation last night. “Ok, shower.”<br/>
</p><p>A mischievous smile bounced onto Steve’s face and he curled an arm around her shoulders. Let me give you the grand tour.”</p><p> </p><p>They were so very late, awkwardly reversing to get around Tommy’s still parked car as Steve waved off her concerns about the others, (“Tommy and Carol are big kids, they can take care of themselves Wheeler”). However, it was still the tail end of first period as Steve pulled them in. They went up to the front office as the secretary gave them a firm frown. “The tardy bell was a whiles back, kids.”<br/>
</p><p>Steve was all charm and aw-shucks playing the good-boy-next door as he told her, “Wheeler here, her car broke down and I passed by saw her and thought it would be a quick fix. But by the time I realized we were going to have to call the garage, the bell already rang and then we had to wait for the truck. And Wheeler here was a mess, straight A student isn’t she? I’m whatever, but can you not hold this against her though? She’s convinced it’s going to go on her permanent record or something and she shouldn’t get in trouble over something that’s my fault.”<br/>
</p><p>The older woman’s eyes jumped to Nancy who did, in fact, feel nervous and awkward as she fumbled a smile that turned into an anxious cringe instead. She sighed. “Alright Mr. Harrington. I know Ms. Wheeler’s reputation, you should spend more time with people like her instead of fooling around, it might be good for you.”<br/>
</p><p>“If she’ll let me,” he said, eyes waggling and running a tongue along his teeth. Nancy blushed with last night’s memories as it felt like her body lit up.<br/>
</p><p>“Leave the poor girl alone, and take this before you’re late for next period too,” the secretary smacked Steve on the shoulder and handed them two passes.<br/>
</p><p>Not trusting herself to speak until they were out and away from the front desk, Nancy turned and cleared her throat. “Thanks Steve, that was really nice of you to think of me like that.”<br/>
</p><p>He grinned and patted her on the shoulder, “Nancy, I thought you knew already. I am the perfect gentleman,” he winked and walked off as the bell rang and students poured into the halls. Nancy, took that moment and buried it in her chest.</p><p> </p><p>She floated on that memory through second and third period, taking notes, but not all the way there. It was fine. Nancy wasn’t a genius, but she was still near the top of the class and Barb could always lend her notes. It wasn’t until fourth period during attendance that those thoughts wrinkled.<br/>
</p><p>“...seen her? What about Nancy? Nancy? Nancy Wheeler!”<br/>
</p><p>She jumped, tearing her gaze away from the window and back to the teacher. “Sorry, Mr. Boushebel. What?”<br/>
</p><p>The tall, dark skinned man rubbed his eyes. “Have you seen Barbara Holland today?”<br/>
</p><p>“She wasn’t in math this morning either,” someone, Ally Nancy thought, called out. Cold guilt suddenly tore the floor out from under Nancy. She hadn’t seen Barb in history this morning, had she?<br/>
</p><p>“First Carol, Tommy, now Barb. Is there a bug going around?” That didn’t get Mr. Boushebel many responses. Now tuning into the others, Nancy noticed the word on everyone’s’ lips was about Benny Hammond committing suicide in his diner and how that made no sense, he was one of the nicest if gruff men in town.<br/>
</p><p>The guilt was clawing at her stomach and made her ears roar. Thoughts of Barb looking lost at her last night, the memory of her calling out behind Nancy, confused and hurt. Even as Mr. Boushebel pressed on with starting class, the low whispers of Benny and the speculation mixed with her memories, showing her Barb, lying somewhere, lifeless, with a bullet in her head. Nancy swallowed hard and slid down her chair, feeling small, and trying not to attract anyone’s attention as she watched the clock count down the minutes to lunch.<br/>
</p><p>She was one of the first out the door, completely missing whatever last-minute assignment Mr. Boushebel was telling them that he forgot to write on the board. Instead she found Ally and asked, “Have you heard from Barb?”<br/>
</p><p>The other girl gave her an odd look. “She’s your best friend Nancy, not mine.<br/>
</p><p>It shouldn’t have made much of a difference, but as Ally pulled out of her paralyzed fingers, Nancy felt the dread draw even closer. The lunch rush pressed her against the wall and that’s when she heard the clicking and punching of a stapler at work. Jonathan Byers was still stapling up posters of Will and something crystallized in Nancy as she pushed through to him.<br/>
</p><p>It wasn’t until Nancy put a hand on his shoulder and he looked at her that things caught up with Nancy. His face shuttered, looking guilty about something and last night came back to Nancy in a rush of clarity. “I’m, uh...” she watched him stonewall and her face hardened with fear and guilt in turn. Barbs name circled her head like a siren.<br/>
</p><p>She left him with Barb alone and confused. What if he took advantage of that?<br/>
</p><p>“Have you seen Barb?” she forced herself to ask. “I haven’t seen her all day and she’s not in any of her classes.” He shrugged, still not quite meeting her eyes. “Jonathan. How do I know you didn’t do something? After last night?” Then the jumble of last night and this morning clicked into something worrisome, even more horrible than she could have expected. “If you went after Barb,” her paranoia and fear took over as her mouth started running off on its own, “After you did something to make Will diss-“<br/>
</p><p>She heard the posters and stapler Jonathan dropped more than saw because he was hauling her up by her collar, a terrible shadow over his face. “I would never do anything, ANYTHING, to hurt Will.” He was trembling with rage and she was too shell-shocked to say anything back as he added on, “How dare you even think of accusing me, after the way you ditched Barb for the likes of –“<br/>
</p><p>A punch made him drop Nancy and she fell to the ground in a boneless sprawl, watching blankly as Steve gave her shoulder a squeeze and then pulled Jonathan onto his feet.<br/>
</p><p>Because she was guilty as charged wasn’t she? She couldn’t find Barb, didn’t even know if her best friend was safe or not because all she could think about was Steve. Steve who was -<br/>
</p><p>Nancy shot to her feet as he punched Jonathan again, then a third time as the hall churned around them. Then as she tried to stumble closer, he kicked Jonathan in the face and the other boy went limp. Limp, head rolling and clearly completely out of it.<br/>
</p><p>“Steve!” she hissed, unable to process the sheer violence before her as Steve pulled her into a hug.<br/>
</p><p>“Don’t worry about that freak now, he won’t be able to hurt you,” he whispered in her ear reassuringly as Nancy felt her skin crawl. But it was fighting with a bit of her that preened and felt warm and so safesafesafe with Steve. Nancy mentally kicked that part to the back of her mind and dropped to her knees.<br/>
</p><p>“What if you really hurt him Steve? What if you get in a lot of trouble?” she groaned, torn between the hurt look on Steve’s face and checking on Jonathan. The latter won out, but all she did was check that there was a pulse and he was still breathing. Still, Steve was hunched over and retreated a few steps by the time she got back to her feet and went to him.<br/>
</p><p>“‘s was hurting you,” Steve mumbled as she went to him.<br/>
</p><p>She frowned and looked down, feeling especially self-conscious and guilty for both boys now. “I said something I probably should’t have, I panicked. Should have thought things out.” Then she saw Mrs. Clark, her APUSH teacher, push through the murmuring students with Tommy nattering at her on her heels.

</p>
<p>“Oh my goodness,” the elderly woman gasped, raising a hand to her chest and rattling the myriad bangles and necklaces she always wore. “What happened to Mr. Byers?”<br/>
</p><p>"He started it, Mrs. Click, er, Clark,” Tommy said it with exasperation as if he’d been repeating himself the last few minutes.<br/>
</p><p>Still, the slip of her nickname drew a baleful glare from the elderly woman. “I find it hard to believe that someone as withdrawn and meek as Jonathan Byers would be the one to pick a fight with the captain of the basketball team.”<br/>
</p><p>“But he did!” Tommy pushed. To Nancy’s further distress, no one else was inclined to argue otherwise - not even herself as she stood tongue-tied. Ms. Clark cast her eyes around waiting for any other explanation and Nancy found herself hesitating, still in Steve’s arms as she wallowed in more guilt roaring in her ears.<br/>
</p><p>“Is this true? Ms. Wheeler, what did you see?” Ms. Clark gave her a flinty look and Nancy fish mouthed.<br/>
</p><p>Then Steve was there, defending her again. “He was the one pawing her first Mrrs. Clark. Picked her off the ground and was all in her face.”<br/>
</p><p>Mrs. Clark made a sympathetic noise as she reached out and patted Nancy. “Well, I’ll be. I can’t imagine what a shock that must have been Ms. Wheeler. Now everyone shoo to lunch,” she suddenly snapped. “This is not a drama performance for you to gawk and gossip about. I’ll thank you to come to the one this Friday evening at the auditorium if you want something to stare at.” As the students dispersed, Ms. Clark, leaned in closer. Quieter she added, “If you and Mr. Harrington would please, stay a moment so we’ll get a statement for the cops.”<br/>
</p><p>“The cops?” Nancy squeaked.<br/>
</p><p>“Well, its not like we can let such a wild hooligan wandering around threatening other young ladies, though for a first offense I doubt he’ll get any worse than a suspension,” Mrs. Clark sniffed, then she frowned. “Must have been the stress of his little brother. A shame, but that doesn’t excuse his behavior.” Steve was nodding and Nancy felt a part of her detach and drift as Mrs. Clark went off and wondered if there was a part of her that wouldn’t have thought the same of Jonathan only a day ago. Now she stared at the only person who knew what happened to Barb last night lying still and silent on the ground before her.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Warning for harassment and assault towards women with Nancy</p><p>Edit March 22, 2021 to change "Sophie" to "Laurie" to match one of Steve's old girlfriends off the wiki's minor characters</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. At the Sound of the Dial…</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Steve normally gets one message, if that, from his parents.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Afternoon of November 9th</b>
</p><p>Facing the police was bad enough, facing the chief of police himself? Nancy panicked and firmly declined to press charges as her guilt curled in her stomach. It overwhelmed her and instead she opened her mouth only to bring up Barb. “Well, my friend Barbara Holland hasn’t been in today, and I’ve been getting kind of worried…” Her voice trailed off as the chief sighed.<br/>
</p><p>“Why did I have to be the one to come to pick him up?” He said that quietly, under his breath as he rubbed his face wearily, but Nancy, on pins and needles, caught it clearly and shrank in herself, her nerves clawing up her numb skin. Seemingly noticing that, the chief shook his head and took a moment to process what she had said. “Do you have any reason to think that she’s missing?”<br/>
</p><p>“But she’s never missed a day of school in her life!”<br/>
</p><p>The older man was gruff and looked sleep exhausted, “Kids skip all the time Ms. Wheeler. Sure you’re not letting the stress of the situation get to ya?” He lifted a hand to his pocket, fishing out the end of a pack of cigarettes before his fingers twitched and he dropped them back into the recesses of his clothes.<br/>
</p><p>“Nancy are you talking about Ms. Holland?” The secretary paused in the doorway, on the way out after bringing Nancy and the chief a glass of water. Nancy nodded and the other woman gave her a warm smile and came back to pat her back. “Her mother called in sick for her and said the girl was unwell. She should be back tomorrow.”<br/>
</p><p>“Oh,” Nancy whispered, a burden falling from her shoulders and she fell back in her chair, slack as a puppet with the string cut. Barb was ok. She’d never called in sick, come in with sniffles, cold, and fever. Wait, there was only the one time she with the chicken pox in fourth grade...<br/>
</p><p>“See, it’s nothing. I’m sure Betty, er Barb wasn’t it? She’ll be back in school tomorrow. Not like that Perkins girl. Playing hooky again.” The older woman sniffed then gave her and the chief a warm smile and saw herself out.<br/>
</p><p>The chief of police, Hopper, she corrected herself and tried to fix the name on that tag in her memory, gave her a nod. “See Ms. Wheeler? There’s no reason to panic. We already have enough missing persons cases with his brother. I’m personally very obliged that you are willing to let this incident go. Think he’s been through enough.” Had he? Nancy still didn’t know what happened after she left Jonathan with Barb and why her friend would ruin her perfect attendance record. What was Byers doing creeping around Steve’s place last night? She stared at the door to the other room where Jonathan lay still out cold as if he would burst through the door and confess everything. Then she realized Hopper had gone on talking while her mind wandered and she struggled to pick up the conversation. “…sleeping well, what with his brother missing. I’ll bring him home and you can be sure he’ll be out of your hair for the rest of the day.”<br/>
</p><p>“Uh, thank you Chief, uhm, Hopper,” she said uncomfortably.<br/>
</p><p>He stood then seemed to remember something and sat down. “Your brother, he’s friends with, uh, John’s brother, Will, isn’t he?” Not expecting that line of thought, Nancy nodded. “Ever see anything...uhm... if you know anything that can help with the case.”<br/>
</p><p>But Nancy didn’t actually know anything about poor Will. She had been avoiding Mike’s little friends since high school started and he’d somehow become even more of a pest of a little brother and as annoyingly a boy than ever. She shook her head.<br/>
</p><p>Hopper give her a tired little nod. “If anything does come up, call this number,” he handed her a business card with his contact info on it. She nodded and took it, all automatically as her mind leapt to truly awful flights of fancy of what she might have abandoned Barbara to. She was still just sitting there, holding the card in her hand, as Steve entered to pull to her feet. Still wrestling with the awful scenarios, they watched Hopper and his deputy haul the still unconscious Jonathan Byer out and away.</p><p> </p><p>“Nancy, you’re acting really weird,” Steve complained. There was a touch of annoyance in that to help break into the storm of thoughts in Nancy’s mind as she pulled herself together.<br/>
</p><p>“Sorry, I’m just worried about Barb.”<br/>
</p><p>“What? Why?” For a moment an urge to punch Steve in the face sprouted in her stomach like lightning to her heart. “She’s not the one that asshole Byers manhandled today.” The urge wilted and faded just as fast.<br/>
</p><p>“What if she was?” Nancy turned back to the open road ahead of them. “We left her with him last night, all things said and done.”<br/>
</p><p>Steve seemed to think about that for a moment. Then he said, quite eloquently, “Shit.”<br/>
</p><p>“Yeah,” she huffed in agreement as they pulled into Steve’s driveway. Steve suggested dropping her off home, but Nancy couldn’t bear the thought of that. Now that she knew Barb was safe at least, she needed a quiet place, space to sort out her thoughts about the events of the last night and the school day. There was no way she was getting that at home with all the weirdness of Will’s disappearance hanging over everyone’s, especially Mike’s, heads.<br/>
</p><p>As they entered, Steve made a peculiar sound and went to the blinking phone and started the recorded message. “Steve, hello there dear.” A woman’s voice sounded over what sounded like restaurant music. From his sigh, Nancy gathered it was his mother. “Your father closed the deal with the new company in Denmark today. We’ve been invited to spend the weekend with his partner, so we won’t be getting –“ Steve pressed a button and cut off his own mother, just shaking his head at Nancy as he walked back.<br/>
</p><p>“Second message,” the tone of the machine politely reminded him making him stop and furrow his brows in confusion. Was it really that odd for him to be taking calls like this?<br/>
</p><p>“Hello? Harrington residence?” Steve’s brow knit further as he watched the color drain out of Nancy. “This is Karen Wheeler. I’m looking for my daughter Nancy,” A look of ‘oh shit’ flew across his face which Nancy reciprocated as they listened to the rest of the message, “She was supposed to be spending the evening with a friend, but I’ve been told that she ended up staying the night with your son. I don’t mean to intrude on your family affairs, but I need to find my daughter and would appreciate it if you could call me back at the nearest convenience. My number is – “<br/>
</p><p>As the message continued, Steve wrapped Nancy in a gentle embrace. “Hey. Nancy? You there?”<br/>
</p><p>She leaned forward and buried her face in Steve’s chest and the soft cashmere sweater he wore, sending sparks of affection and something that made him want to stand taller and make sure she was safe sent warmth through him head to toe. “I’m in soooo much trouble,” she moaned pitifully.<br/>
</p><p>“How did she even - ,” Oddly it was Steve who connected the dots first and sighed, drawing Nancy’s face out of hiding. “Barb. She must have got home and spilled the beans to mommy-may-I who called your mom.”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy frowned, “She wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t tattle like that.” There was a waver of doubt in her voice that she felt acutely.<br/>
</p><p>“Well,” Steve sighed, “I can’t think of any other way since its not like Tommy or Carol have your mom on speed dial.”<br/>
</p><p>About to argue the click of the tone sounded again. “Third message, from November, 3rd, 1:43 PM.”<br/>
</p><p>They frowned in the pregnant pause. That was while they were at school giving their statement to the police.<br/>
</p><p>“Steve.” Unmistakably, that was Tommy’s voice. And it sounded worried and a pitch just shy of frantic. “Carol’s not home. Nobody’s seen her and she’s not at any of the usual places either. This shit with the Byers kid is giving me the creeps man. Have you seen her?”<br/>
</p><p>As the message beeped its unceremonious end, Steve and Nancy shared a nervous look. “You didn’t see her this morning?” Nancy asked with a helpless shrug of her shoulders.<br/>
</p><p>Steve was in thought and shook his head. “Like I told you, not since last night. I think you must have been the last one to talk to her. What do you remember?”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy struggled with the mist in her mind of sleep deprivation, burnt-out adrenaline after Jonathan, and the awful gnawing she was missing something in the pit of her stomach. She shook her head. “We talked. I-I was, nervous? I think? Nervous, but like, wow Carol’s got a really cool side. Like scary, but also, I thought she could be a really decent person under all that bitchy, sorry, sarcasm?” It was halting as she tried to bring up what they were talking about, but all she remembered was a name. “L” something. Larry? Lisa? No, those names didn’t ring any bells in the fog of her mind.<br/>
</p><p>Her boyfriend frowned. “That makes no sense, I thought she got a ride with Tommy. But then he said she wasn’t even there this morning, which is, like not surprising when they fight, but its not like she could catch a ride with anyone else…”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy's frown deepened as Steve’s voice trailed off. Running a hand through his hair he paced and then wandered into the kitchen. She trailed behind, still trying to recall what exactly she and Carol had been talking about up until Steve stopped still, making a strange sound and she bumped into his back. “Steve? What is it?”<br/>
</p><p>Wordlessly, the boy picked up Carol’s purse from where it sat, abandoned on the island table. Abruptly, a memory jumped out at her as Steve muttered, “She’d never leave this behind. Where is she?”<br/>
</p><p>“She said she was going to go out for smokes,” Nancy remembered, thinking of the knife waving menacingly but without truce malice. “She got a pack of smokes from her bag and she had the kitchen knife we had for beer yesterday.”<br/>
</p><p>“She what? She knows where the scissors are,” Steve complained, but it was halfhearted and distracted. “I’m going to check the garage, that’s where she and Tommy keep the w…” He clammed up as he gave her a sidelong look, but Nancy, waved him off, distracted by a curious thought as she stared at the backyard patio door.<br/>
</p><p>“Be right back.” He was gone and then there was nothing to distract from the grim sense of dread filled Nancy as she took one step then another and marched over to the patio door. Casting her gaze around, she saw light glint at the edge of the diving board and something in her stomach hardened uncomfortably.<br/>
</p><p>She opened the door and, drawing close to the diving board, Nancy leaned down and picked up the kitchen knife. Gingerly she held it up and observed not only the faint flakey rust of dried blood, but a curious line of black goop that glistened thickly in the weak winter sunlight. Looking around she saw a hedge bent out of shape. “Carol?” she called out. She got up and started walking over to the woods, the chill of the winter air making her regret not grabbing a jacket. “Carol?” There was a trail faintly through here, the mark of broken twigs and faint impression of footprints that gave Nancy hope. “Are you there? Carol?” She called out as she pushed onward.<br/>
</p><p>Later she would remember, belatedly, that Barb had mentioned chasing Jonathan out here. But the most vivid memory she carried was the growling. Caught off guard, Nancy whirled, trying to find the source when she saw something moving through the trees. She froze at the sheer size of that shadow then jumped as a wretched screech tore the air. Too scared to scream, Nancy found herself beating a quick retreat, knife still clenched in nerveless fingers, and didn’t stop until she slammed the sliding door to the pool behind her.<br/>
</p><p>“Nancy?” Steve looked bewildered as he walked over from the kitchen and took in how she trembled in the wind, face white as a sheet and still holding the damn knife. Remembering it, she let it drop and turned to Steve, biting back tears as she tried to process what just happened. She simply reached out as Steve pulled her into a comforting embrace.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Barb</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nancy looks to the Hollands for a friendly face.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Late afternoon of November 9th</b>
</p><p>“She’s not here, we fished her smokes out of the pool, but she’s not – no, why would I fucking lie Tommy?” Steve gave off the impression he was smoldering as he hissed and fumed at the phone. “Come here and check it out yourself if you want, but she’s not here. You think I would joke about this shit?”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy turned away as his voice dropped again and she pulled open another drawer, finally finding what she was looking for. Fishing out a Ziploc bag, she carefully slipped the knife in the bag and prayed that it wouldn’t cut the bag itself open. For good measure, she dumped out the six or so odd apples in a paper bag off the counter and carefully wrapped that around the plastic bag.<br/>
</p><p>By the time she finished, Steve muttered something hotly into the phone, then blinked and pulled the receiver away from his ear. “Did you hang up on me? Tommy? What the fuck?!”<br/>
</p><p>“Steve,” she was hesitant to interrupt, but the way he looked to her like she was a lifeline emboldened her. “We have to talk to Barb. The weirdness last night, she knew something.” And this way, she could confirm with her own eyes that whatever weirdness made Carol disappear, didn’t take Barb away either. Steve made an unhappy face, but it wasn’t like he had any better clue. He nodded and grabbed his keys off the counter.<br/>
</p><p>The ride to the Hollands wasn’t far and soon Steve shivered in the chill of the coming winter and pressed in close as Nancy rang the doorbell. His eyes caught on the tacky Santa sleigh that Barb had loved fiercely from ages six to twelve before rejecting the holiday in a bout of middle school rebellion. He had never been here and was well out of his element.<br/>
</p><p>Then there was the sound of approaching footsteps and the door opened. Mrs. Holland emerged with pursed lips. At the sight of Nancy waving with unenthusiastic nervousness and Steve’s moody silence, her face soured and pulled into a frown. “Nancy Wheeler,” she sighed and Nancy’s hand froze. “You’ve got a lot of nerve showing up here. Your mother’s been calling for you.”<br/>
</p><p>“My mother?” Nancy whispered under her breath. She had completely forgotten about the phone message at Steve’s house up to this moment. Was Steve right about Barb?<br/>
</p><p>“You and Barb have given the two of us a lot of grief last night with your disappearing acts,” Nancy’s heart stopped. “The nerve of you two, to lie and use that poor Byer’s boy disappearing as an excuse to go gallivanting with boys,” Mrs. Holland hissed. “And I suppose he’s the man of the hour?” She jabbed a chin at Steve who sunk into a sullen hunch. Mrs. Holland was always prim and proper to a fault, and now she cast a look at Steve that made it clear how lowly she thought of him as Nancy’s thoughts raced to catch up again.<br/>
</p><p>“Barb’s missing too?” she squeaked out.<br/>
</p><p>Mrs. Holland sighed, smoothing her apron. “Whatever excuse you’re trying to pull Nancy, it’s not working. Barb told me everything when she got back home last night. Shame on you, two-fold. Once for lying to your mother and me, and twice for leaving Barbara alone in that state! What were you thinking? I thought you two were better friends than that!”<br/>
</p><p>“So is Barb ok?” Nancy pressed frantically.<br/>
</p><p>Though it earned her a strange look, Mrs. Holland gave a small shrug of her shoulders. “She’s resting in her room. She’s been a frantic mess all day and won’t leave her room, convinced there’s something chasing her. I would’ve grounded her after the stunt you two tried pulling last night, but…well, she’s worked herself up enough on her own.” Then she shook her head and sighed. “Now I suggest you go before you send your own mother to an early grave. She mentioned something about you being in a fight? And the police were involved?”<br/>
</p><p>“A fight?” Then the thought came back to her. Jonathan. “Oh no, I’m in so much trouble.”<br/>
</p><p>“To say the least of it,” Mrs. Holland sniffed. “Have a good day you two,” she said frigidly and closed the door in their faces.</p><p> </p><p>“One, two, three, there that one.” Nancy muttered low.<br/>
</p><p>Steve nodded and reached up to knock on the window. The lights were on, but nobody responded so he tried again. “Maybe she’s sleeping?” He asked softly.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy shook her head and tried to ignore that they had waited an hour until dark fell and were crawling around the Holland property like burglars to get Barbara’s attention. Still how much more trouble could she get in that she wasn’t in already? “You can pull it open from the outside. We broke the lock three years ago and never told Barb’s parents to fix it.”<br/>
</p><p>Steve nodded. He hadn’t been crazy about this plan, but it wasn’t like he had anywhere to go for a while. They hadn't been back to his place long before Tommy had called and they made plans to meet up and go check out the quarry again in a few hours. Util then, Tommy was tearing the town apart and Nancy suggested to Steve, unable to sit still after that,  they try to talk to Barb again on the hope that she knew something. He and Nancy coordinated quietly in the thin moonlight to push the window up and Nancy rolled her way through. She turned to help Steve through, but froze. An odd strangled sound was the only warning she had before something slammed into her head and she hit the ground, the darkness roaring around her as she fell into it.</p><p> </p><p>“Nancy? You ok, babe?” Steve’s voice pulled her through and she groped blindly for him before her vision righted itself. The light was blinding at first. It took her a moment to place that they were still in Barb’s room. Barbara’s room, all lit up, blazing and blinding. She tried to shake her head, but there was a faint ringing that worsened and made moving just then seem like a bad idea.<br/>
</p><p>“Is she awake?” a familiar voice drifted through the addling haze.<br/>
</p><p>“Why would you care?” Nancy heard Steve hiss. “You sold us out.”<br/>
</p><p>“I was panicking. And why wouldn’t I tell the truth about you? You and those two ragged on me all night. And she just watched it happen.”<br/>
</p><p>Despite the nausea and the pain, Nancy managed shift her face just enough to see the most welcome thing she had all day. “Barb,” she whispered. The other girl gave her an uncertain nod as she sighed and fiddled with something out of sight. Nancy just managed to raise her head an inch before a hot pang of pain in her head made her hiss and close her eyes again. A cool towel on her forehead brought slight, but such welcome relief, and she hummed her thanks.<br/>
</p><p>“Sorry about the bump. I had no idea it was you.” Despite the tension Nancy chanced on before opening her eyes, that was genuine Barb – sincere in its regret and it made Nancy twinge uncomfortably as she placed that tone. That was the tone she always used to apologize when her parents were lecturing her about something being more ladylike…<br/>
</p><p>Then the mass of warm muscle and familiar deodorant to her right sighed. “You’re not serious about that thing you saw?” Steve’s voice was dull, a bit strangled.<br/>
</p><p>“I told you the same thing I tried telling you last night,” Barb was insistent, and so much more forceful than she ever usually was. “Something was creeping around your pool. And if you’re saying Carol went missing around there, what else could it be?”<br/>
</p><p>“Uh, not a really bad B listing horror monster? Seriously, you need to wake up and smell the roses Bu – Barb. We’re not playing make-believe here. I just want to find Carol as soon as possible.”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy cracked an eyelid, wondering if this had all been a mistake – but Barb was here alive, and that was so good to not just know, but see with her own eyes. The other girl bristled as Steve’s scorn, but now something was different from the other times she had endured Steve’s barbs. “A make believe monster doesn’t leave scratches and tear up a car Harrington. Did you see what it did to my Cabriolet?”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy hadn’t spared the Cabriolet more than a second glance when they pulled into the driveway, it was just another hint that Barb could be safe but not the proof she needed to see for herself. So, she hadn’t given the Cabriolet a good look, but the claim made Steve look away with a huff. After a poignant pause, he spoke up again. “You’re making things up Barb. Next you’ll be telling me my pool is haunted and you want to go ghost hunting.”<br/>
</p><p>Barb shrugged and got off the bed. “Well, you’ve got the right idea about haunting. This thing might be the one that made that Byers kid disappear as well as Carol. I don’t plan on being the next one.” She lifted a heavy shovel, looking appropriately menacing in a deranged way until she cringed and wiped something off the metal head.<br/>
</p><p>“Woah there, bad enough you hit one of us with that already tonight Barbara. Put the shovel down.” Steve was all tension which was ridiculous to Nancy considering the usual pecking order of their social lives. Then her addled mind connected the dots.<br/>
</p><p>“Wow, Barb, you hit really hard,” Nancy said, sounding dreamier and more disconnected than she had thought she would.<br/>
</p><p>Barb gave her a curious look and then let the shovel drop to her side. “To be fair, I thought you were the thing that could mangle my front bumper coming after me a third time.”<br/>
</p><p>“Oh.” Nancy said faintly, feeling steady enough to ease herself up until she was leaning into Steve’s careful embrace.<br/>
</p><p>“You probably just couldn’t hold your liquor and hit a ditch.” Steve grumbled. Though he did it quietly, eyes on Barb’s shovel.<br/>
</p><p>“Ha. My father thinks I went off road and smashed into a tree,” Barb was humorless as she smiled at him and raised an eyebrow. “Did that look like a car crash to you?”<br/>
</p><p>When Steve didn’t reply, Nancy glanced up and saw him thinking, brows furrowed and mouth pulled down unhappily. “Say I believe you and there is a fucking monster in Hawkins. If it took Carol, and the Byers boy,” Steve licked his lips. “Do you think we can take them back?”<br/>
</p><p>Barb laughed, voice harsh as a crow. “That thing chased me down twice now. I’ve spent the day jumping at shadows and my own parents are looking at me like I’m crazy. And now you want to try and find that thing? Just the three of us, when it made Carol disappear? You’re insane.”<br/>
</p><p>“Well we need to tell someone!” Steve said urgently, nearly leaping off the bed and jostling Nancy in the process.<br/>
</p><p>“Yeah, three teenagers. The prom king and the two fuck ups whose mothers won’t let them out of sight again.” Barb snorted.<br/>
</p><p>“Barb!” Nancy said shocked in a way that Barb whacking her with a shovel couldn’t manage. She hadn’t ever heard Barb talk like that!<br/>
</p><p>The other girl threw an exasperated, exhausted hand in the air as she kept the shovel firmly in her other. “Who the heck would believe us?”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy opened her mouth to argue, closed it, then her eyes widened. “Wait, wait,” from her pocket she dug out a battered rectangle of cardstock and held it out.<br/>

</p>
<p>Barb took it, read it and then raised an eyebrow. “Since when do you have the police chief’s number?”<br/>
</p><p>“It’s a long story,” Nancy said waving it off, “but we need to make him believe us.” She glanced to Steve who was obviously still fretting about Carol as he half listened to this exchange and Barb who held the card tight like it was a lifeline. “I’ve got the knife with the weird gunk on it.”<br/>
</p><p>Barb suddenly let out an “oh.”<br/>
</p><p>“What?” Steve asked.<br/>
</p><p>Barbara gave them a hesitant look. “I think I know someone who can give us a picture. But you’re not going to like it.”<br/>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The Byers Residence</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>An unwelcome surprise at his home upsets Jonathan.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Content warning</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Late morning of November 10th</b>
</p><p>“Jonathan,” Barbara Holland said in complete seriousness, “there’s a monster out in the woods.”<br/>
</p><p>And just like that, Jonathan realized there was someone here who actually got it. Barb watched him hesitate, until he looked her in the eyes. Unlike at the pool though, he met her eyes and just nodded. Pushing past her, he unlocked the dark room and then waved her in.<br/>
</p><p>“I saw it last night.” Barb made a sharp squeak as she sucked in air, suddenly breathless as Jonathan continued. “It was at my house, my mom saw it too. I’m pretty sure it took Will.”<br/>
</p><p>“Carol Perkins’s missing too.” Barb said in a rush. “Steve and Nancy were looking for her and, and then they came to me. We want to tell someone, but we need proof.” She gave him an expectant look.<br/>
</p><p>Suddenly Jonathan’s face shadowed. “You want me to help those two? After what happened the other night? Barb, she ditched you. She let Carol and Tommy bully us – you - and you want to - ”<br/>
</p><p>“That thing attacked me Jonathan!” Barb finally spat out, cutting him off and in the ringing silence, she shared what happened after she left him that night and about the knife and weird black goop Nancy had found. “Something weird is going on and none of us are safe unless we go to the police.”<br/>
</p><p>That earned a snort from Jonathan. “Then keep me away. They already think my mom is crazy for figuring out a way to talk to Will, in… wherever he is.”<br/>
</p><p>That earned him a shocked look from Barb. “He’s alive?” His short nod was enough to set Barb rocking back on her heels as she hummed. “I guess that bitch Carol is alive too then.”<br/>
</p><p>After a moment, Jonathan swallowed a surprised laugh and finally unhunched his shoulders. “Didn’t think you could curse Barb.”<br/>
</p><p>“I didn’t think there were really monsters that make people disappear either, but here we are.” She clasped her fingers and rocked again. “So will you help us?”<br/>
</p><p>Despite all that happened yesterday, whatever the deal was with Steve and Nancy, if Barb could put the past behind her, Jonathan could do the same to get help for Will. “What do you need?”<br/>
</p><p>“That night, you dropped your camera, you think it caught anything?” Barb fiddled with a button on her blouse, meeting Jonathan’s eyes, and then following them as he turned to the string of photos left to dry the day before.</p><p> </p><p>They were missing first period, but an announcement rang out about Will Byers body being found and that the students were being sent home early. It made Jonathan pause just a bit, but of the other three, Barb was the only one who seemed to not hear the morning’s hot gossip as the tongs she held slipped from suddenly nerveless fingers. “What?” she boggled.<br/>
</p><p>“It’s a lie,” Jonathan told her flatly. Behind his back Nancy and Steve shared nervous looks and a fair bit of skepticism.<br/>
</p><p>Barb stared at Jonathan’s stiff back. Then she nodded, not that he could see, and said. “I believe you.” That made the lanky boy turn and give her a puzzled look. “You said he was alive earlier. Will is alive.”<br/>
</p><p>“Say what now?” Steve was apparently the next one to be surprised so Barb gave him an incredulous look.<br/>
</p><p>“You say that like you want them to find Carol’s body next.” That accusation wound up Steve enough that he sat back down, fuming and muttering with arms crossed as Nancy put a hand on his arm. Eventually, Steve shut up and leaned his head against her, shoulder eyes closed and looking unwell in the red light of the dark room.<br/>
</p><p>Barb had retrieved the tongs and was fiddling with them when Jonathan raised his head. “Besides Steve,” he said, voice flat, “check this out.”<br/>
</p><p>The other three crowded around his shoulders to look down at the photo developing in the pan. Though dark, in the picture was an unnaturally thin and tall figure without a discernible face. It was a good match for the thing that burst out of his wall last night.<br/>
</p><p>“What the fuck,” Steve gaped as Nancy retreated and Barb leaned in for a closer look. Glancing at the taller girl, Jonathan expected the terrified girl who been bullied and pushed around to be backing away. Now he saw her with eyes fixated on the picture. The set of her jaw. The way she memorized that face and then looked to him. “We’re taking that fucker down.” And suddenly Jonathan was so glad to have Barb at his side. A week ago, they barely gave the other another thought. Now, instead of trying to fight this wall monster with only his mother on his side, Barb stood tall and resolute as she moved to talk with Nancy and Steve. Small comfort that it was, four teens and his mother was better odds than before, at least. Anything, given that monsters who walked through walls were real.<br/>
</p><p>“We have two places to track this down. This thing went after Will at my house,” Johnathan pointed out as he joined them.<br/>
</p><p>“And Carol at Steve’s,” Nancy finished grimly. Steve straightened up. He’d been full of anxious tension throughout this whole thing and now that they seemed to be planning a course of action, a dangerous look entered his eyes and Jonathan kept a wary eye on him.<br/>
</p><p>“It’s tied to the pool somehow, because, remember that night Jonathan?” Barb gently tapped at her chin in thought. “That sound must have been it entering the pool.”<br/>
</p><p>He shrugged and held up a hand. “It tore through the wall at my place, though. We saw it. And Will gave us a warning when it came. I think that makes it a better choice to check out.”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy nodded her agreement and Barb didn’t seem against it, so when the three looked Steve they were surprised to see him bent over the photo again. “Steve?” Nancy asked.<br/>
</p><p>Her boyfriend gave her a rabid look. “I thought we were going to tell the police about this.” His voice rose until he was shouting, “I don’t care about fighting this thing, or playing Hardy Boys here. I want to find Carol!”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy flinched at the outburst and bit her lip as she gave him space. Steve scowled and then ducked his face. Finally, he continued, “Nancy, when you said there was something in woods, do you think it was this thing?”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy made a confused face. Steve wasn’t the brightest bulb, but all things considered, “Yeah, what else could it be?”<br/>
</p><p>Steve clenched his hands on the tub of developing solution as he looked back down at the photo. “This thing, where did it come from through the wall Byers? How is it in the woods and my pool at the same time? Where did it take Will? Carol?” Looking up at them, he ran a shaking hand through his hair. “And how the hell are we going to get them back?”<br/>
</p><p>In the ringing silence, Nancy’s eyes darted to the others. Jonathan frowned, puzzling over this as he and Steve were clearly most invested into getting the people they cared about back. Barb had that flinty look in her eyes again and that newly found stubborn edge that came with thinking about the monster haunting her life from the margins.<br/>
</p><p>In the end, Nancy reached out to put a hand on Steve’s shoulder. “We have to find the monster if we want to get any idea where they are Steve. It’s a process, but this is the best way to find and save them.” Steve didn’t lose his temper as the others agreed with her call. In the end, he didn’t seem any calmer for it, still silent and angry as he stared a hole through the photo of their monster.</p><p> </p><p>	Barb and Jonathan trailed behind Nancy as the shorter girl tried her best to cheer up Steve. Nancy had ended up staying the night at Barb’s and snuck out of the house to catch a ride to school with the other girl. She borrowed the phone to leave a message for her mother, but balked at the idea of facing her family after the last few days. That morning, Barbara’s mother gave her daughter a wordless, disappointed look as she passed along a message from Mrs. Wheeler. All the other mother had asked was to tell Nancy to stay safe above all else even if she didn’t call or go home again. The sudden clemency threw Nancy for a loop until she got to school and heard the rumors of Will’s body. At that moment, she had wondered what Mike was doing.<br/>
</p><p>Now, she had her hands full as Steve staggered. He and Tommy had spent the night driving back and forth from hang out spot to hiding spot. They were tearing their childhood with Carol apart looking for her. He hadn’t seemed to believe Barbara’s tale of the monster last night still hoping that Carol was just hiding somewhere out there. He fixated on it, really, at least, until the photo seemed to slam reality into place. Now he was withdrawn and kept messing at his hair, muttering things under his breath like he was convinced that Carol was dead. Barb didn’t fancy trying to manage him, sleep deprived as he was. Against her better judgement and trying not to nurse a grudge, Barb urged Nancy to ride with Steve and keep him from wrapping his car around a tree. Jonathan moved ahead to get into his car and lead Barb and Steve to his place, but took a moment to stare at the damage the monster had wrought on Barb’s Cabriolet. “Jesus,” Barb heard him whisper before getting into his creaky Ford.<br/>
</p><p>They followed Byers across town to his out-of-the-way house. Jonathan was adamant that they talk to his mother and check in with Will before they go to the police and no one was willing to argue with him when he got defensive about it. However, all four teens in their respective cars did a double take seeing the sheriff’s car already parked there. </p><p>Only Jonathan recognized the car next to it and barely halted his Ford before he tore out of it, keys still in ignition as he sprinted for the door like a bat out of hell.<br/>
</p><p>The others followed and nearly let the door slam in their faces before Steve caught it to ogle at the spectacle before them.<br/>
</p><p>The chief of police stood in the Byers’s living room facing Joyce Byers. They recognized Joyce best as the mild mannered, overprotective mother working the counter at Melvilles. Now she was red-faced and shouting a litany of curses at his face as he held his hat and tried to defuse the situation. The problem was that even with his voice raised, they could barely hear him over Joyce’s rage. At the other end of the room, Jonathan was equally as loud as Joyce, shouting at a man they only vaguely could recognize from the resemblance in their stances as his infamous father Lonnie. Jonathan had a hand on one strap of a black bag while his father held the other and the two were shouting loud enough to add to the racket and fiercely enough that no one else could make out what they were actually saying. Over all of this, a mass of Christmas lights covering every inch of the ceiling illuminated the madness and the three realized that there was a hole knocked in the wall on their side.<br/>
</p><p>“Maybe…we should give them a moment,” Barb finally said with an overabundance of caution.<br/>
</p><p>“You think?” Steve asked shocked.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy elbowed them both, “Guys! This is our chance,” she gestured, “Chief Hopper’s right here, do you have the stuff?”<br/>
</p><p>Steve went for the knife from his car and waited for Nancy, digging through Jonathan’s bag in the Ford, until she produced the packet of developed photos and waved it at him.<br/>
</p><p>“Guys!” Barb yelped before she dove out of sight into the house.<br/>
</p><p>Steve and Nancy ran to the door sill, took one look inside and then squeezed in at the same time.<br/>
</p><p>Lonnnie’s bag had tore between the son and erstwhile father, the latter of which was now restrained by Hopper who mostly succeeded in keeping Lonnie’s rage in check. Barb emerged from the kitchen with ice for Jonathan whose eye was now completely swollen again as he sat on the couch with Joyce planted herself between her son and ex.<br/>
</p><p>“Jonathan,” Nancy gasped, as a low “duuude” escaped Steve.<br/>
</p><p>Joyce turned to the doorway, giving them a glare before her eye caught on something in the spillage of the bag. “What’s this?” she asked fishing up a yellow rectangle of paper. Suddenly Lonnie went quiet as all eyes went to Joyce. She read the pamphlet, hands shaking as she opened it. Most of the other eyes in the room caught on the bold title about “lawsuit and damages.”<br/>
</p><p>Joyce’s rage seemed wordless as her face went past red to white with rage and worked her mouth failing to articulate herself. Finally, in a hoarse voice that made everyone flinch, she shrieked at her ex. “GEEEET OUUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE YOU DEAD BEAT AHRRAAAGHH!” She went over and beat on Lonnie as the chief had to pull a 180 and intercede himself between Joyce and Lonnie and drag the other man out of the door. Joyce followed them there and continued to shout explicatives at her former husband from the doorway until his car pulled out of view and she finally slumped against the doorsill.<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan spat on the ground, “Finally. Asshole.” His voice was thick.<br/>
</p><p>Barb took one look at the ground and shook her head with a hiss. “That’s blood Byers. I’m going to get you some salt and water to rinse your mouth.” And with that she retreated back to the kitchen.<br/>
</p><p>“Excuse me, but who are you?” Joyce croaked as she stumbled back in the room. If the kids thought Jonathan was taking Will’s disappearance badly, they kept their thoughts to themselves about Joyce looking like she hadn’t slept a wink all night or stepped out of the house in days.<br/>
</p><p>“Wheeler? Harrington? What the hell are you two doing here?” Hopper looked utterly baffled as he closed the door behind him.<br/>
</p><p>“Harrington? Steve Harrington? The one who punched Jonathan yesterday?” It seemed Joyce somehow still had fresh reservoirs of rage as she advanced on him and Nancy and Steve spluttered excuses trying to head her off.<br/>
</p><p>“Joyce, easy now,” Hopper sighed trying to placate her fruitlessly for the umpteenth time that day. He took the fact that, instead of pummeling him like she had trying to get to Lonnie, she was just batting at his arms ineffectively as a mark of leniency. She also managed to restrain herself only to dark mutterings.<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan finally cleared his throat. “Mom,” Joyce froze. “They’re ok. Let it go for now. They’re here to help.”<br/>
</p><p>Joyce and Hopper both quirked their heads. “Help? Help with what?” Hopper asked suspiciously. Beneath him, Joyce’s eyes widened and flicked to the lights and the painted alphabet then gave him a questioning twist of her head. At his nod, she gave the other kids an owlish, reassessing look.<br/>
</p><p>Steve ended up taking Hopper’s attention as he said, “Look, you gotta help us. Carol Perkins is missing now too and we think she’s disappeared like Will Byers.”<br/>
</p><p>Hopper clapped both hands to his face and sighed. “Will Byers’ body was found,” his voice rose to scale with his frustration. “Which is why we had his father here until you kids came and made it an absolute shit storm.”<br/>
</p><p>“Don’t think I forgot that you pulled him into his Hopper!” Joyce said with new vigor as she noticed every other face in the room treat Hopper’s statement with skepticism or, in Barb’s case, a dramatic rolling of her eyes as she plopped onto the couch with Jonathan. It lit a flame in the weary woman. “Lonnie has no right to anything with Will, not after the last eight years he put this family through!”<br/>
</p><p>“He’s the only one who would sign the affidavit to take Will’s body out of the morgue to get it ready for the funeral.” Hopper blustered, “Because someone refused to come down and do it themselves.”<br/>
</p><p>“That is not Will,” Joyce got right up and personal as she poked Hopper firmly in the chest.<br/>
</p><p>“Hey,” Steve interjected just as cantankerously. “While you’re still talking about Will Byers, we going to do anything about the missing teenage girl? Carol? Hasn’t been seen since the night of November 8th?”<br/>
</p><p>Hopper jabbed a finger at Nancy. “Kid, the last time I saw you and her talking about missing girls, you were convinced it was Barbara Holland. Who I’m guessing is you.”<br/>
</p><p>Barbara scowled at his dismissive look and surged to her feet. “Hey! I was attacked too, take a look at my car if you want to see what this thing can do to solid metal! Something is out there and it went after me, it could have gone after Carol!”<br/>
</p><p>Steve gave her a soft look as she backed him up, but Hopper was unmoved. “You kids got a paranoid bent and I don’t have time to deal with this when I’ve got actual missing persons cases to investigate.”<br/>
</p><p>“Deal with us?” Steve fumed, “How you about deal with this?” He ripped open the paper bag and waved the Ziploc sealed knife with the odd black sludge on it.<br/>
</p><p>“Woah, the fuck kid!” Hopper roared as he seized the hand waving the knife around and managed to get hold of the knife and throw it away without cutting himself or Steve. “What the hell are you on pulling a knife on the chief of police now?”<br/>
</p><p>Barb sighed, burying her head in her hands and fell back into her seat as Nancy started to try and explain, “Listen, you don’t get it we’re –“<br/>
</p><p>A snort of unrepressed laughter was ultimately what brought Hopper out of his rage as he glared at Joyce balefully. “You’re laughing?”<br/>
</p><p>“It’s that or lose my mind Hopper. How many missing cases does that make now?” she went from humorlessly amused to serious in the blink of an eye. “You said Henry and Dale disappeared hunting. Will’s body was “found,” Barbara Holland disappeared and now another girl is missing? Not to mention, Benny Hammond, of all people, kills himself? This is safest-town-in-rural-Indiana Hawkins Hopper. Why do we suddenly have more mystery cases in one week than the last twenty years?”<br/>
</p><p>Hopper gave her an unimpressed sniff. “Don’t you get started on me now, Joyce.” Even as he said it, Barb was sat up ramrod straight and Nancy shrunk against Steve.<br/>
</p><p>“There are more people missing?” Barb’s voice was dreadfully hollow as it cracked on the last word and Hopper gave her a withering look. “Guys, the photos,” Barb rasped trying to compose herself as Jonathan frowned and awkwardly tried to comfort her with a pat to the back that she didn’t seem to notice.<br/>
</p><p>“Photos?” To Hopper’s immense and distracted relief, Joyce’s rage finally seemed to desert her as she asked.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy fumbled with the envelope she suddenly remembered she was carrying and took out the set of augmented photos. “Jonathan was out in the woods the night Carol went missing,” she bit her lip deciding to skirt the most incriminating bits of that exchange and focus on finding Carol as Steve continued to shake with righteous teenage fury. “We don’t know what happened to her after the rest of us went to sleep, but Jonathan caught a picture of something strange…”<br/>
</p><p>She held out the largest picture of the monster for Hopper. The bigger man begrudgingly took it because it was clear the way all the kids trained their eyes on him they seemed to think this was important. He could humor them. “What? It’s a little late for a Halloween prank kids.” He gave them all a mocking raise of his eyebrows as he said so. “Nice costume though,” he said, laying thick the patronizing tone and wearily noticing how the kids all bristled.<br/>
</p><p>Hopper jumped as a shrill sound escaped Joyce who had peered over his shoulder. She snatched the photo out of Hopper’s hands staring at it with horror, and then looked to Jonathan next. “Jonathan, this?” He nodded, “You had a photo?”<br/>
</p><p>“Didn’t realize until we developed the negatives this morning, mom.”<br/>
</p><p>Oh, oh. Will.” Joyce cupped her mouth in horror, then her mind caught up. “And this thing took that other girl?”<br/>
</p><p>“I think, it’s still out there,” Nancy added hesitantly. “There was something in the woods of Steve’s house yesterday, it didn’t sound…like any animal I heard…and it was big. Bigger than a human…”<br/>
</p><p>“Oh for Christ’s sake.” Hopper moaned, not liking where this was going. “Don’t get her started.”<br/>
</p><p>“Hopper! This is it! The thing that came though the wall!”<br/>
</p><p>“You mean you and your hatchet you got to grind?” Hopper snapped with a nod to the tool, half buried in the rubble by the wall.<br/>
</p><p>“It’s photographic evidence Hop. Look! I told you! The man with no face! Something is very wrong here!” Joyce insisted.<br/>
</p><p>Steve had retrieved the knife and this time, he was careful to cup it in his open hands as if presenting an offering as he came close. “And take a look at what’s on the knife instead of throwing it this time.”<br/>
</p><p>Hopper looked about to tell him off again, but Joyce leaned closer before he could find the right words. “Is that…blood?” That at least pulled Hopper in for a closer look. “And that black stuff? You think it’s from this…thing?” Joyce pointed at the photo still in her hand.<br/>
</p><p>“Never seen anything like it near my house. And I’ve played in the woods there all my life.” Steve grated out, glaring a challenge at Hopper.<br/>
</p><p>“Hopper, what if –“<br/>
</p><p>“Nope. I’m done.” Hopper snarled.  He tugged his hat on and pushed past Steve to the door. “I’ve got actual police work to do here and you all need to get your heads screwed on straight before you all go to the loony bin. The funeral will be at the undertakers tomorrow at 1:00 Joyce. Lonnie agreed to closed casket,” something about that thought made him trail off until everyone trying to speak up their protests pulled him back. The frustration snapped back onto his face. “Don’t do anything stupid.” He slammed the door behind him.<br/>
</p><p>From the hole in the wall, Hopper could hear as he stomped over to his car how Jonathan broke the silence of his exit. “Mom, ignore him. We have to hunt this thing down.” And soon after the other teens were adding their own ideas.<br/>
</p><p>Hopper heaved himself into his car with a heavy heart and growled. The radio on his dashboard was blinking so he grabbed the mic and checked in. “Flo, going to need you to send a detail to the Byers residence and keep an on things. Some kids have gotten Joyce Byers worked up and they’re talking about some crazy hunting trip in the woods.”<br/>
</p><p>After a moment Flo chimed back, <i>“Sure thing Hop, but it might take a /it. We got a call from Doc Perkins about his daughter being missing. Got her boyfriend in lockup, nearly crashed through the windows of Bradley’s a few hours back.”</i><br/>
</p><p>“Wha -?” Hopper gaped at the radio.<br/>
</p><p><i>“Kid was asleep when Powell brought him in and put him in a cell. Looks like he hasn’t slept in a bit, I think. Says he and the Harringtons’ kid haven’t been able to find Carol for over a day and the Byers case spooked her father something fierce. Asking to open an inquiry and all that.”</i> After a moment she added, <i>“Haven’t seen the Harrington kid, but I put out a notice to keep an eye for his BMW and make sure he’s not half asleep at the wheel too.”</i><br/></p><p>Hopper gave the Byers residence an incredulous look as he pressed down on the mic. “Copy that Flo.”<br/>
</p><p><i>“That’s not the only bit. I’m the only one in the office now because we’ve gotten seven more missing persons cases in the last six hours. Everyone’s out getting reports but they’re from all over town Hop. Any idea what the heck’s going on?”</i><br/>
</p><p>The gears in Hopper’s head turned furiously. “Forget the Byers,” he said at last. “Sounds like we won’t have any time. You have a list of the missing people report coming in?”<br/>
</p><p><i>“You’re sure?”</i> Then in the same breath she rattled off a series of names and, helpfully their ages, genders, and occupations. <i>“There’s no common thread to it either Hop. No one has any idea what’s going on.”</i><br/>
</p><p>“I’ll bet.” Hop sighed trying to recall the picture the kids showed him. He felt the pangs of something squeamish as the facts added up. “Flo, who was it who found Byer’s body again? O’Leary?”<br/>
</p><p><i>“O’Bannon. The state trooper,”</i> she reminded him. <i>“Why?”</i><br/>
</p><p>“State trooper. Right.” The thread of something suspicious began unraveling in his mind. “Can you track him down? And put in a call to the coroner. Going to need to know a bit more how about the body to convince Joyce before she loses her rocker.”<br/>
</p><p><i>“I told you calling Lonnie was a bad idea,”</i> Flo remarked reproachfully. That triggered else something in his memory the yelling early shook loose. Lonnie had gloated that the caretaker had offered a free service if the funeral would be closed casket. Hopper couldn’t remember the morbidly cheerful undertaker ever offering a deal like that before.<br/>
</p><p>Putting a pin in that thought, Hopper returned to Flo. “Yeah. Well, damage’s been done. Can you find him?”<br/>
</p><p><i>“I’ll see what I can.”</i><br/>
</p><p>“You’re an angel Flo.”<br/>
</p><p><i>“Hang in there Hop.”</i> Her voice was sympathetic. <i>“Sounds like we’re in for a rough night tonight.”</i><br/>
</p><p>Setting the mic back, Hop thought to himself that Flo had no idea how right she was.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Warning for domestic violence and abuse of the Byers by Lonnie, past and present.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. The Woods</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In another Hawkins, it’d be just Jonathan and Nancy. Here…</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Afternoon of November 10th</b> </p><p>“Will, was in the wall.” Joyce admitted. “I saw him. I. I-I tried to cut him out, but when the wall went, it was like he wasn’t there in the first place.”<br/>
</p><p>Barb went to stand in front of the hole as Jonathan curled his arms around his mother. She glared at the wall, trying to piece it all together. “Did he say anything?” she heard Jonathan ask softly.<br/>
</p><p>“He said it was, “like home, but…dark. Dark and empty, and, and cold!” Joyce slumped like her strings were cut and leaned into Jonathan. “I don’t know what’s happening," she whispered.<br/>
</p><p>Barb picked up the axe Joyce discarded and studied it before she glared at the wall and tried to put the pieces together.</p><p> </p><p>Nancy finished occupying herself washing the dishes and poured out water for everyone as she sorted out her thoughts. Once she was done, Steve was back. “Gave him the peas.” She nodded and offered him a glass. He took it and grabbed another, not bothering to take a sip. “Byers is tougher than I gave him credit for.”<br/>
</p><p>“Hmm?” She hummed she gathered the other three glasses.<br/>
</p><p>“Can’t imagine going mano-o-mano with my pops like that.” Nancy nodded in acknowledgement and thoughtfully considered that.<br/>
</p><p>“Don’t sell yourself short, Steve,” she said distractedly, “I bet you’d do the same.” She completely missed the way he slumped and frowned, thinking about his own father.<br/>
</p><p>Joining the others in the living room, Nancy set a glass for herself down on the table and offered one each to Jonathan and Joyce.<br/>
</p><p>“Thank you,” Joyce whispered taking ginger sips as she put a finger to her throat. “It’s very kind of you to do that for us.”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy gave her a nod as she braced herself. “Jonathan.” She waited until he focused his good eye on her. “I’m sorry about what I said the other day. It wasn’t right of me to panic and say that to you. I get how worried you were about Will now, after Barb, and. Well, I’m sorry.”<br/>
</p><p>After a moment he nodded. “Thanks Nancy. I’m…for what it’s worth I’m glad Barb is safe.” She grinned, beaming as she looked over at her friend. Her expression slipped as she saw Barb watch them a guarded look. Then Steve popped up next to the taller girl and gave her a glass. The moment passed as Barb thanked him.<br/>
</p><p>“Joyce, you said something about Will being in the wall?” Steve was quick to press.<br/>
</p><p>The woman nodded. “I saw him.” She stared at her glass blankly. “I saw him, heard him, but I couldn’t reach him. It was like he wasn’t there the next second.”<br/>
</p><p>“You haven’t heard him anywhere else in the house?” Nancy asked.<br/>
</p><p>“His room,” Jonathan interjected. “Mom said the lights and stuff in his room was on and playing music by itself.” Joyce nodded along.<br/>
</p><p>“You saw him there too?”<br/>
</p><p>With a shake of her head, Joyce clarified, “Most of anything we’ve seen with Will was here in this room.”<br/>
</p><p>“When did you see him?” Barb finally spoke up.<br/>
</p><p>“Through the hole? Oh…hours ago.”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy rubbed her forehead. “And there hasn’t been anything since?” At Joyce’s sad shake of her head, Barb met her eyes and Nancy could tell they were thinking the same thing. Then Barb glanced at Steve and her expression fell.<br/>
</p><p>Of all the expressions Nancy expected to see, the soft smile she hadn’t seen in over a day and the way his eyes gleamed brightly at her was not it. “It’s a good sign though,” Steve said, finally filling in the silence since Barb and Nancy came to the same conclusion. Unsaid was that he was clearly thinking that hope for Will meant hope for Carol. But…the light at Steve’s never flickered once, and they hadn’t heard a thing like Will trying to call through the phone lines. Not even a message. All the same Nancy couldn’t bring herself to say a thing and gave Steve a shaky smile to try and reassure him. The desperate light in Steve’s eyes lingered.</p><p> </p><p>“The woods?”<br/>
</p><p>Barb nodded and Nancy gave a thought. “It does make the most sense,” the smaller girl conceded at last.<br/>
</p><p>“It runs all the way from the here to the edge of Steve’s house and -”<br/>
</p><p>“It’s in between here and my house,” Nancy clapped a mouth to her hand in horror and looked to Jonathan. “Will!”<br/>
</p><p>The boy gave her a shaky nod. “Everything points to the woods.”<br/>
</p><p>“So let’s go,” Steve growled.<br/>
</p><p>“What?” “Are you insane?”<br/>

</p>
<p>“He’s right.” A bereaved Joyce and distressed Nancy turned to stare at Jonathan. “We need to go and find it now. It’s taking more people and we don’t even know why. If its hunting people…then its…got a reason to keep taking them. Like…its hunting for food.”<br/>
</p><p>Steve leapt to his feet and ran out the door with Nancy rushing try and follow. Barb gave Jonathan a reproachful look. “It hasn’t gotten Will.”<br/>
</p><p>The other boy looked down. “You think Carol’s been as lucky?” Barb didn’t bother answering, just turning away with a frown.<br/>
</p><p>“Jonathan, no!” He winced as Joyce clamped onto her last son. “What if it takes you too?” Somewhere, Joyce found the strength to stand up and it filled her lungs. “I can’t lose you too!”<br/>
</p><p>Barb stepped back, hanging awkwardly at the edge of this exchange. She felt envious really, at how easily Joyce believed Jonathan telling her how he need to fight the monster haunting the shadows of her waking moments. She compared it to the skepticism of her mother and the stern disbelief of her father over a curfew flouted. Barb struggled and tried not to lose herself in the more and more familiar cocktail of loneliness, anger, and jealousy that was becoming a permanent staple of her life.<br/>
</p><p>The other boy seemed to know just what to say though. “I can’t lose Will too, not when we’re so close.” Joyce crooned sadly and cupped Jonathan’s cheek as he screwed his eyes shut.<br/>
</p><p>Barb finally slipped out the door, unable to bear witness to a Byers family moment as she tightened her grip on the axe. From the front porch, she paused to take in Steve tapping a foot impatiently at his car as Nancy hugged herself. The distance between them spoke volumes where their silence didn’t.<br/>
</p><p>After a tense moment, Steve finally noticed her. “We’re losing daylight,” he hollered.<br/>
</p><p>In all honesty, Barb was surprised that Steve hadn’t already driven off in the woods on his own. “Maybe we should think things through again guys,” Barbara called back to Steve. He scowled, but the boy’s anger didn’t scare her. There was something far more frightening and lethal out there. “If it’s hunting at night like a wolf, I don’t fancy our odds in the woods at night.” All the same Barb let the weight of the axe in her hand ground her as she imagined slamming it into that no-face-man as Joyce had so aptly named it. The thought sent a warm, dark thrill through the girl down to the tips of her toes.<br/>
</p><p>Steve rolled his shoulders, all male bravado. “Come on Holland, its four of us against the one. We’re not a little kid and it’s not going to catch us by surprise.” To his pleasant surprise, the nerdy girl actually laughed and gave him a toothy grin as she hefted the axe again.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy gave them both a disbelieving look and instead suggested, “Flashlights.”<br/>
</p><p>“What?” Jonathan joined them in time to catch her latest outburst.<br/>
</p><p>“Flashlights,” she repeated simply. “We’re going to need them if it comes out at night. And so far, we know Will disappeared the night he was coming home and Carol went missing when we all went to bed.”<br/>
</p><p><i>“You could kill someone in the next room and no one would be the wiser.” Carol’s voice sang.</i><br/>
</p><p>Nancy shivered as she pushed away the memory and hunched deeper into her jacket. “It’s probably nocturnal. We’re going hunt this thing at night, let’s at least make sure we can see the thing.”<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan finally joined them, jumping past the stairs in a rush as he patted his pockets. With a jingle of metal, Nancy threw him the keys to the Ford she’d been holding onto since she checked the car for the photos. “We need to go now though, before my mom finishes trying to call the police on us,” he told them flatly as he ducked into his car. The teens traded looks and scrambled to get into their own rides. The Byers Ford and Harrington BMW rattled off the driveway first, and Barb moved ready to go bumper to bumper until a shape jumped out in front of her Cabrio.<br/>
</p><p>She screamed, slamming her foot down, but on the brakes. She heard that inhuman roaring again and her Camaro jerked to a halt on the rough dirt. Barb froze as she stared at the no-face-man slamming down on the battered hood of her car again.<br/>
</p><p>Except.<br/>
</p><p>Barb sobbed and rested her forehead on the wheel as Joyce Byers scrambled over to the passenger door. To the older woman’s relief, Barb hadn’t managed to lock it in their rush to get away, and she dove into the seat. “- insane if you think I’m going to just…let… Barbara? Honey? What’s wrong?”<br/>
</p><p>Barb just shook her head and sat there, sniffling and taking sobbing breaths as the BMW and Ford made their way to circle back around and park at the foot of the Byer’s driveway again. Try as she might, she couldn’t stop the tears and the shaking. Her hands tightened on the wheel with a squeak of leather as she longed to hold the axe stashed hastily in the trunk. As the others crowded around trying to figure out what the hold up was, Joyce reached out and gently placed a hand on Barb’s arm. She patted the trembling girl and hummed to her as they watched the sun set and cast the forest in golden hues all around them.</p><p>
  <b>Evening of November 10th</b>
</p><p>In the dimmed lobby of Melvald’s after hours, Joyce slapped a flashlight and extra battery into three outstretched teens’ hands. Only Steve had been equipped with one in his car before their supply run. “What did you lot find?” She reviewed the arms that they had scrounged up. Steve produced a wooden bat. Jonathan’s iron crowbar seemed serviceable and he held up a few flares he found as well. Nancy eyed the boys’ finds somewhat jealously. The flashy knife she found seemed a bit lacking, and, thinking twice about it, she wondered if it would serve her any better than Carol. At least the first aid kid she grabbed seemed like a good contribution. Joyce could find no fault in Barb using the axe she’d brought along. The taller girl had also found two walkie talkies that ripped a pang of familiarity through Joyce’s heart as it reminded her of Will. For her part, Joyce hefted the shotgun Melvalds employees kept under the counter as a warning to thieves. She pumped the somewhat aged weapon and was relieved that it still seemed to work and snapped open the barrel to load up the shells properly.<br/>
</p><p>“We’re really doing this.” Nancy breathed softly as she looked the others over. Barb seemed thirsty for blood in a way that baffled her and was completely at odds from the quiet girl she’d been childhood friends with. The Byers seemed just as determined if less vengeful. Their priority was clearly Will. To Nancy’s great discomfort, Steve felt a bit distant to her, and it was startling to see how much Carol’s disappearance had affected him. In a way, it was sweet if more than a bit disorienting to see how much he cared about the missing girl. A small seed of green-eyed longing took root as she watched him swing the bat, but it vanished as he leaned in. “Stay close. I’ll watch your back.”<br/>
</p><p>Barb mentally sighed as she observed Jonathan watching that exchange. It was never easy playing second fiddle to Nancy. Watching this happen with her and the two boys so quickly in the last few weeks…it was trying to say the least. <i>This is a life-threatening hunt, not a social call!</i> Barb wanted to yell as Nancy noticed Jonathan’s gaze and gave him a crooked smile.<br/>
</p><p>Joyce looked up from counting out her shells. Less than she would like, but ten was basically a box of shells wasn’t it? It would have to do. “Let’s get a move on. I want to end this thing tonight.” There was a rough edge to her voice that gave Nancy and Jonathan shivers, but also set Steve and Barb’s shoulders straight.</p><p> </p><p>Joyce gave Barb the directions to where they found Will’s bike. They had to ditch the cars behind in the road, but everyone armed up from the get go and moved in a purposeful cluster, their flashlights piercing the night sky. “Here,” Joyce informed them quietly. Their voices carried oddly in the cold winter night. “They said it was around the old camping spot.” They spread out, but ultimately, found nothing of note that the search party before them missed.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy reached for Steve and curled around his arm. “It’s so quiet. Is it supposed to be this quiet?”<br/>
</p><p>“You’re supposed to hear owls, frogs, bugs.” Her nerves seemed to be getting to Steve as he spoke with a low voice. “This isn’t right.”<br/>
</p><p>“It’s out here, somewhere,” Barb croaked.<br/>
</p><p>“Keep moving,” Joyce urged. Following her lead, they pressed deeper into the woods.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you sweet on Jonathan now?”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy’s reaction was immediate as she turned and hissed to Barb. “What, no that’s crazy! I’m with Steve!” Thank goodness it was just the two of them at the moment, trailing behind the others.<br/>
</p><p>Studying her face Barb made a skeptical humming sound.<br/>
</p><p>Inexplicably nervous, Nancy asked, “You have your eye on him?“<br/>
</p><p>Barb moved her light around the clearing. “He’s got a good heart. He was nice to me and cared what happened to me.” The unsaid “unlike you” pressed down on the air between them as the girls avoided eye contact.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy swallowed, feeling unbalanced. She wasn’t sure where she stood anymore. Seeing Barb had helped, but now the guilt that she felt about Barb seemed to carry over to Carol as the last one to see the missing girl. And then there was Steve who shared Barb’s frenzy. The events of the last few days were putting a wall between her and Barb when she once felt like she could talk to the other girl about anything. That wasn’t helping. Not to mention, she didn’t want to try and process the weird way she and Jonathan were cooperating now despite the apology earlier. It hadn’t felt like enough to make up for everything that happened to the quiet boy with all the craziness of the last few days coming to roost all at once.<br/>
</p><p>“You girls find anything?” Joyce called over softly. The boys were further up ahead and out of sight, their lights beaming up from beyond a hill. Nancy and Barb shook their heads and scurried to catch up, putting a bit more space between them than just a moment before.</p><p> </p><p>Barb was lingering around Jonathan, and the other three were together when Steve’s yelp brought them over at a run. “What the fuck?” Barb gasped.<br/>
</p><p>The hunting site laid out before them had been ravaged. One tent was completely crushed as the tatters of the other flapped in the night air. Equipment and gear lay scattered all around. On the far side, the half-eaten carcass of a deer, or rather one half-eaten and another with ragged shreds of flesh, crawled with bugs. The white of the bones and the viscera gleamed in their light as they sat exposed to the air. Even with that gruesome mess, it didn’t explain the blood splatters in two very prominent locations on their side of the camp and the trails that led away from them as evidence of bodies dragged off out of sight.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy stumbled and fell into a dead faint as Joyce made an ugly heaving sound. Steve was nowhere as composed as he retched into a bush to their side. Jonathan ended up being the first to drop to Nancy’s side and Barb forced herself to look away.<br/>
</p><p>“What happened here?” she asked in fascinated horror as she watched the corpse of the deer crawl with minute movement.<br/>
</p><p>After a moment, Joyce managed to compose herself with a wary look at Nancy. She wanted to pull Barb away in case another of them fainted too. “It’s not a pretty sight for ladies.”<br/>
</p><p>At the wordy “ladies,” Barb jumped out of Joyce’s grip. “Well fuck that,” she snapped, taking a deliberate step into the clearing. Joyce followed. At least Barb seemed healthy enough.<br/>
</p><p>“Barb,” Steve coughed in awe, wiped at his mouth and followed.<br/>
</p><p>The smell of rot was awful and drowned out all but the faintest coppery tones of blood. The blood was evidently a day old, at least, the way it was dried and flaked in the wind. Barb raised a hand over her mouth in distaste but cast around her flashlight until it caught on the gleam of polished metal and wood. Putting the light in her mouth, she tugged until she pulled the hunting rifle out of the remnants of the scattered gear. “Wicked,” she whispered as she examined it.<br/>
</p><p>A bit away, Steve examined one of the messes of blood and swallowed. “There’s another one here,” he told the others. Joyce joined him and Barb as they stared at the second rifle.<br/>
</p><p>“Did that…could that thing do this?” Joyce asked horrified as they beheld the second rifle. The muzzle was bent at a nearly forty-five-degree angle, its smooth metal barrel marred by gouge marks that tore curls of metal shavings out of the gun with prominent claw marks. “Henry and Dale,” Joyce gasped with sudden clarity. “They always go hunting this time of year. And…”<br/>
</p><p>“The bodies are gone.” Barb said flatly. “Did it eat them?”<br/>
</p><p>The light jerked and then turned to see Steve sink to his knees as his flashlight rolled away, his face white and utterly drained of blood in horror.<br/>
</p><p>“Oh no, come on Steve, you can’t fall apart on us now,” Barb tried to pull him to his feet and only just managed to drag the boy up halfway as he shook like a leaf in the wind. Joyce moved to take his other arm and they pulled him back to the others.<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan gave them a quizzical look as Nancy stirred feebly in his arms. “What happened?” he gave the other boy an alarmed look as Steve clutched his head and muttered to himself under his breath.<br/>
</p><p>“Give him a moment,” Joyce sighed. From the backpack she filled up at Melvalds, she drew out a handkerchief and a bottle of water. Her hands trembled violently, but she managed to spill some water onto the handkerchief and moved the damp cloth to wipe Nancy’s face. Nancy stirred, coming to slowly and realizing with hot embarrassment that this was the second collapse in an as many nights. “Hey there honey,” Joyce told her warmly. With her free hand, she shoved the bottle into Steve’s hands with a fierce order to “drink.”<br/>
</p><p>A rattle and creak made the Byers jump, and Joyce went to her feet. “Barb?” she called out, startled to find the other girl had vanished.<br/>
</p><p>“Be right there,” her voice sounded from the ruined campsite as more things shifted. Joyce put a hand to her heart and fell into Jonathan’s side as they waited a moment to gather themselves.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy managed to pull herself up so she and Steve were leaning against each other in mute shock as Barb returned. The rifle was now strapped over her shoulder as she dropped a bulging pack with blood smeared on one side. “What?” Jonathan asked until she opened it and the gleams of handguns, another shotgun, and boxes of ammo were revealed.<br/>
</p><p>“No sense in letting it go to waste,” Barb pointed out, dropping her axe to the ground with a dull thud. “And Nancy could use something better than a stupid knife.”<br/>
</p><p>“Didn’t seem to help the last guys,” Jonathan pointed out.<br/>
</p><p>“Shut up Jonathan” Barb said without any heat or spite as she fumbled to check the guns again, open the barrels, and load them up with the exaggerated care of her first time doing so.<br/>
</p><p>“It’s really killing them.” Steve’s voice was disturbingly flat as he watched Barb at work.<br/>
</p><p>“It hasn’t gotten Will yet,” Jonathan tried to remind him.<br/>
</p><p>“Maybe it did. It’s been hours.”<br/>
</p><p>Barb held back her sigh of frustration as the Byers bristled at the implication. She wouldn’t take it personally herself. It was clear though, that Steve was heartbroken and lashing out in grief more than anything. “Steve. Shut up. We don’t know if it killed Carol,” She put a pistol in his hands as she added, a bit callously really, “Even if it did, we’ll put it in the ground for her.” Nancy gave her a disapproving look, but Barb watched as Steve look down and hold the gun thinking.<br/>
</p><p>“You’ve changed Barb,” Nancy whispered worriedly.<br/>
</p><p>“So have you,” she snapped back. Nancy didn’t respond, only gave her a forlorn look of disappointment and sadness Barb had no time for. Instead she handed Nancy a gun of her own and put a box of bullets between the couple. To her immense relief, Steve no longer looked haunted, merely grim as he met her eyes and gave her a solemn nod.<br/>
</p><p>Once she handed Jonathan the last handgun and passed him and Joyce more ammo, she rolled to her feet. “Let’s find this thing and end it.”<br/>
</p><p>Steve fished the extra shotgun and box of shells out of the pack before she could pick it up and strapped it on. “Lets,” he said with finality.</p><p> </p><p>On the move again, they followed the disturbed leaves and trails in the dirt of what they suspected were the bodies. The trails seemed to overlap and headed in the same direction, so, emboldened, they pressed on until the trail vanished at the foot of a tree. “Now what?” Jonathan grumbled until the base of the tree lit up orangey-pink.<br/>
</p><p>Everyone stared as it glowed and the light glistened on thick, fleshy strings of matter. Barb leaned down and peered into the depths with a closer look. “Well what do we have here?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. T̴̨̛̘̞̬̯̬̺͍̓̒̈̂̀h̶̛̛̬̖̭͖̎̀̈́̂́͂̇̈͌̌̕̕e̴̛̺̓͌̒̆̊̓̌͗͆͝ ̷̡̨̤͈̥̺̲͖̤̓̍̔͋́̐̒͂̒̏̓͘ͅW̵̡̛̗̺̏̏̑͊̅̚ő̴̱̥̬̲̺̹̩͎͐̐͐̓̄̆̕̕ơ̵̜͎̲̔͑̈́͛̓̋̓̾̃ͅḑ̷͙͈̻͍̯̩̩̭̬̦̖̞͙̥̏͒̆̇̍̈͠ş̴̧̲̦̰͍̟͈̬̳̤͚̤͇̔̐͐̾̏̃̍</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Content warning</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Evening of November 10th</b>
</p><p>“What the hell is that?” Nancy’s voice was flat as they watched Barb crouch by the tree.<br/>
</p><p>“Is it alive?” Joyce wondered aloud.<br/>
</p><p>“The tree?” Jonathan quibbled nervously.<br/>
</p><p>“No, the – “<br/>
</p><p>Together, everyone but Barb shouted as the redhead stuck her arm into the tree.<br/>
</p><p>“What the fuck Barb?” Steve yelped as Joyce surged forward.<br/>
</p><p>Her answer was faintly surprised. “It’s cold.”<br/>
</p><p>“Honey,” Joyce tugged on the girl’s sleeve. “Let it go. Come on, back up with me!”<br/>
</p><p>Instead Barb learned further forward until she was in up to her shoulder. “How deep does this go?” she whispered into the shocked silence.<br/>
</p><p>Inquisitive as ever, despite the circumstances, Nancy rounded the tree. “Barb, are you sticking your hand all the way out?”<br/>
</p><p>“Yup.”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy circled back around and gave them an unsteady look. “Steve, you remember asking where that man-with-no-face comes from?”<br/>
</p><p>Her boyfriend goggled at the luminous opening. “From there? Wha – Barb, the fuck??”<br/>
</p><p>“I think I can fit all the way in!”<br/>
</p><p>Joyce and Nancy both jumped to pull out Barb who was already head first into the opening.<br/>
</p><p>“Ow!” Barb clutched where she hit her head on the ground after falling onto her back. “Guys, what was that for?”<br/>
</p><p>“What are you thinking?” Joyce hissed.<br/>
</p><p>Into the silence, Steve growled with stress and barely restrained panic. “She’s not.”<br/>
</p><p>Barb shot him a dirty look as she got up and dusted herself off. “Look, We came into the woods looking for the monster or clues to get Will and Carol back right?” She waved at the tree. “Doesn’t get more obvious than this.”<br/>
</p><p>Joyce frowned, then decisively ordered, “You lot stay here. I’m going to check this out. Hush, Jonathan!” Her tone brooked no arguments as she got to the ground and crawled into the opening.<br/>
</p><p>It was bizarre, the stringy fleshy bits were actually quite fluffy and dry, like cotton, but scratchier. The smell was something else though, not quite as a strong and awful as the rotting campsite, but muskier and sharp at the same time with the tang of something chemical, like a household cleaner. Like Barb mentioned, the cold immediately bit into Joyce as she shoved her way through until she popped free of the weird luminous mass into<br/>
</p><p>The woods? What?<br/>
</p><p>Joyce clambered up and shone the light around the clearing she just left, only empty. “Kids?”<br/>
</p><p>“Mom?” The echo of Jonathan’s voice came from behind here, from the opening she just crawled through.<br/>
</p><p>Okaaaay. Joyce forced herself to calm down and pay attention, she then she started noticing...<br/>
</p><p>The cold. Here it was even worse, a cold deeper than winter that seemed to sap more out of her than just warmth.<br/>
</p><p>Vines, black and murky like mold crawling over every surface. They covered everything to the point that Joyce wondered if it was the only thing here that actually thrived.<br/>
</p><p>Things floated in the air, like dust bunnies, but far larger. Taking a breath seemed harder here and Joyce thought back to the smell, to household cleaner and bleach and how they could poison the air if you weren’t careful.<br/>
</p><p>The sky flickered. It was a bleak teal, as if everything was underwater. Then something rumbled and there was a flicker like lightening in the distance that turned everything an ominous orange as the sky lit afire. At least, until it all died away leaving the cold aqua light to drown everything again.<br/>
</p><p>Joyce hugged herself. There was something very wrong here and, call it a mother’s intuition if you wanted but, she knew Will was here. Then her son’s words came back.<br/>
</p><p><i>“Dark and empty and cold.”</i><br/>
</p><p>Joyce was absolutely certain. He was somewhere here all alone and this was the closest she felt to finding him since this whole mess began. The thought made her chest tight and breathless with hope.<br/>
</p><p>Something bumped into her shins and she let out a surprised, shrill sound and jumped, fumbling for her gun. She panicked again and almost dropped it when she turned the muzzle on Jonathan, getting to his feet and looking around in shock at where they were.<br/>
</p><p>“Jonathan, go! Go back!” She hissed.<br/>
</p><p>Instead he got out of the way for a familiar redhead to poke her head out of the opening. “Woah.” Ignoring Joyce’s protests, Barb got out to help Nancy and then Steve as the teenagers huddled close and ran their lights over the disturbingly familiar surroundings.<br/>
</p><p>“Not in Kansas anymore,” Barb whispered softly. Nancy frowned at the joke, but then shuddered. There was something victorious, almost viciously so, on Barb’s face as she looked around. A smirk played on the other girl’s lips and Nancy finally realized the look for what it was. Vindication. </p><p>The weird lighting didn’t actual help to make anything easier to see when everything was some shade of gray, dark brown, or black. They stuck even closer than before now, Nancy huddling against Steve for warmth and Jonathan and Joyce holding hands like a lifeline.<br/>
</p><p>Once the initial triumph faded, a restless energy settled over Barb. When they pressed on she had wanted to linger, because the place unnerved her. The clearing was so empty, not even the traces they had followed to the weird tree could be seen as she ran her flashlight back and forth along the alien forest floor. Granted, they were amateurs at best with no experience in tracking. Still, the question nagged at her from the back of her mind.<br/>
</p><p>Where were the bodies?<br/>
</p><p>When she asked as much, the others shrugged or ignored her entirely in the case of Joyce who called out softly. “Will? Will? Honey? Sweetie?” Despite her desperation, Joyce barely called out in more than a loud whisper. No one had forgotten the ruins of the hunting camp on the other side of the tree, so they kept a close hand on their weapons and kept moving fast.<br/>
</p><p>When they found the eggs, it silenced even Barb’s muttered questions and Joyce’s plaintive cries. Whatever was in them was clearly dead, consumed. The odd marks on the gooey remnants and the sheer size of the faintly luminous eggs brought to mind stories of the monster fighting game Nancy’s and Jonathan’s little brothers liked to play. After that was pointed out, the faint conversation and murmuring to break the uneasy silence died out entirely and they shut off the beacons of their flashlights.<br/>
</p><p>This world was so alien, even if the woods seemed familiar enough that Steve, and sometimes Joyce, could point out landmarks. Still, on this unfamiliar ground with the knowledge that even guns might not fend off the thing that went bump in the night, the teens and lone adult felt less like hunters and more like the hunted as they stumbled around the woods, tripping on vines and messy, foul undergrowth.<br/>
</p><p>“What’s that?” Nancy was, as ever, the one with the sharpest eyes and curiosity to match as she pointed out a dark shape in the distance.<br/>
</p><p>Joyce frowned. “I didn’t think there was anything out in this part of the woods.” Steve could only shrug when they looked to him for an answer.<br/>
</p><p>With a nod towards it, Nancy prompted them to move closer only for them to come up short on a rusted fence. Like everything, the vines and weird mold crawled over the metal, though it seemed to still stand tall in a secure perimeter around the complex just beyond. “What the heck?” Joyce murmured as they took in the sheer size of the structures and the imposing image the buildings posed. Like everything else though, even the tall edifice of stone and metal looked consumed and hopelessly snarled in the moldy growth that festered here.<br/>
</p><p>“Think this place is real on the other side too?” Barb asked.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy made a sound of warning to ward off Steve advancing on the fence as she pointed to a metal box nearby. “Generator. I think it’s an electric fence.”<br/>
</p><p>Barb raised an eyebrow. “You think that hunk of junk’s actually running?”<br/>
</p><p>“You wanna risk it?” Nancy asked just as coolly. Things still didn’t seem to be smoothing out between them and from the way Steve looked between them, it wasn’t long until everyone else knew.<br/>
</p><p>“Hey guys?” Everyone clustered around Jonathan as he pointed to the rusted sign he had found. “Do you know the ‘Department of Energy?””<br/>
</p><p>“That sounds like something federal.” Nancy said. “But why would they be interested in a place like Hawkins?”<br/>
</p><p>“I’ll take a wild guess that this place has something to do with this,” Barb waved around them, voice very dry. Then, as if on demand, they heard a faint noise from inside the complex. Joyce was quick to shove the kids back as they ducked for cover in the musty, dead growth.<br/>
</p><p>The noise grew louder until it clarified into a voice. No one could quite help peeking from their cover as a bright yellow hazmat suit emerged from the gloom.<br/>
</p><p>“One click out and counting.” There was a faint buzz as the voice muttered a little lower. “Even if is just running through the lab.” Though softer, in this oppressive silence, the sound carried and everyone was on their toes, definitely able to hear that comment. They exchanged intrigued looks up until there was a beep and the voice commented, “Toll gates blocked here, shambles and I don’t like the looks of it.” After a moment they heard the crackles of static and an otherwise inaudible voice. “Fence is still standing...Roger. Over and out.”<br/>
</p><p>The erstwhile group could see the yellow figure a fair distance away get close to the gate and fumble with the metal. The fence didn’t seem electrified, but they heard the voice curse sharply anyways. “Dammit!” At this point, it was clear the pauses and static signaled the man was in radio contact with someone, somewhere. Deeper in the lab? “I’m bleeding! Cut clean through the glove. The suits aren’t durable enough for this environment” On the last word, a guttural sound tore through the air and Steve fell out of his bush in a rustle of dead wood snapping. The others froze stock still, all too aware from their encounters what made that sound.<br/>
</p><p>The man in the yellow suit didn’t seem to though and jumped. “There’s something else in here! Pull me out, pull me out!” The sound of the monster crashing through the woods on the other side was like a signal and the Joyce shoved the two closest to her, Jonathan and Nancy, back into the woods. “Pull me out!” The man fair flew backwards through the air as a massive dark and hulking shape threw itself at the fence with a shriek of metal. “PULL ME OUT!” He kept shrieking as the monster tore straight threw the fence and fell on him before he could fly back into the safety of the building he emerged from.<br/>
</p><p>Everyone froze as Steve exploded into motion to run at the thing, bat held high and something feral sounding from his lips before the man in the suit screamed. The interlocked shapes exploded in a gush of blood and gore from the yellow form and there was another agonized wail that sounded only once more before it stopped in an abrupt gurgle. Steve stumbled to a halt as the sound of smacking and wet tearing filled the air and the man-with-no-face dug messily into its meal.<br/>
</p><p>The horrible wet ripping sound and smacking echoed as Barb watched the spindly monster who hunted her. Steve wavered and at that moment, Barb knew with absolute certainty that someone else would die if they didn’t get out of there at that moment.<br/>
</p><p>She seemed to be the only one with the nerve to step out of hiding, fighting the instinct to run away screaming. Fighting the memories that still made her steps tremble, she carefully pulled the limp and pliant Steve away from the grisly scene before them as quietly as she could. Getting back to the others, they retreated without a word back into the woods, tripping and flinching at every rustle or sound they made, even when the slurping and smacking fell far behind.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy and Jonathan seemed to be at the front, leading the group back away from the monster as they beat a fast retreat into the mutated woods. The only thing on anyone’s minds was getting away from that thing until, finally, Joyce seemed to recognize a small pond of foul green murk by a large stone and hissed to follow her instead. When they saw the familiar pulse of orange and pink, Nancy sobbed in relief and they scrambled through the hole in the tree.<br/>
</p><p>On the other side of the pitch black, vine-less woods, they paused to stare in mixed horror and relief at each other only for a grinding sound to draw their attention to the hole. Before their very eyes, the dim orange light died and bark seemed to descend to fill the space. When Joyce reached out with shaking hands to touch the tree as Barb held up a flashlight, it was as if the hole had never existed. That broke something in Nancy as she ran and they followed. They didn’t stop to catch their breath until they fled the clearing and made it all the way back to the cars. Nancy was practically blind with tears at that point, eventually clinging to Jonathan who was the first to reach her. Steve wasn’t much better for different reasons. Barb and Joyce had to forcibly pull him along as he moved in a daze, Barb was basically dragging him along at that point. They finally shoved him in Barb’s backseat, wordlessly agreeing to ditch his bimmer for now as Jonathan peeled out of the woods with a still incoherent Nancy in the passenger seat as they scrambled to follow.</p><p>
  <b>Morning of November 11th</b>
</p><p>The monster roared in her face and reached for her as she unloaded the clip into it. The flash of gunfire illuminated dark, rippling skin and a featureless mass of flesh for a face that split in two down the middle to reveal rows of scintillating teeth as it leaned forward to bite her<br/>
</p><p>Barb hit the ground with a thud and scrambled to her feet. She panted, sweating and tossing her head, looking for the monster and flexing empty hands until her vision adjusted to the darkness and she<br/>
</p><p>She was standing in the Byers living room. She had fallen out of the dent in the couch, cushions, and blanket Joyce pushed her to sleep in. Nearby, Steve grunted in his sleep from the armchair Joyce had tucked him into. There was a chill in the air that crept in from the hole in the ravaged wall and Barb took one breath after another of the bracing winter air to clear her mind. A nightmare, it was a nightmare. She sagged in half relief, unable to untense completely. That one that woke her was so much more worse than the ones she had the nights before. Those had been terrifying, of something dark and perching, at the edge of her vision watching her as she lay in bed, paralyzed. This new nightmare was far too real and much too close. Barb lurched for the kitchen, mouth dry as parchment and foul with fear as if she had bitten into something rotten as the woods they escaped last night. The woods that she couldn’t seem to run from in her mind.<br/>
</p><p>She picked up a glass and tried the faucet. Taking a seat, she blinked, nearly dropping her glass as she thought the liquid inside was tinged green. Once she raised the glass in the moonlight though, it was just a water and Barb set the glass aside. Even with her mouth as dry and ragged with dehydration as she suspected she was, Barb doubted she’d be able to swallow anything. Instead she warred with her stomach and nausea as the scent of blood and the sharp odor of the other world clung to the roof of her mouth and she coughed, trying to clear her throat.<br/>
</p><p>“Barb.”<br/>
</p><p>To her credit, she didn’t scream. She did knock her glass over, but luckily nothing broke and it was just water. Steve didn’t seem to care as the water sloshed and dripped over the edge of the table as he sat down hard at the table across from her. He looked ragged and run through worse than her. Dark bags were under his eyes despite their rest. He also looked like he was trying to say something and having trouble finding the words, so Barb’s eyes darted over a nearby clock.<br/>
</p><p>6:20<br/>
</p><p>They only had three or four hours of sleep. She glanced back to Steve wondering how the boy was still holding up after an all-nighter and the gauntlet they had run only a few hours ago.<br/>
</p><p>Then again, it wasn’t like she could get anymore rest either.<br/>
</p><p>“Thanks,” the boy finally muttered.<br/>
</p><p>“Huh?”<br/>
</p><p>“Thanks. For uhm,” he licked his lips and looked away. “...getting me out of there.”<br/>
</p><p>Barb expected indignation, pride. To feel something from those words, to hear the unimaginable: gratitude to Barb the Bump coming from King Steve. Like a bubble of feeling had popped in her chest, Barb realized that it didn’t matter. Not really.<br/>
</p><p>A flesh eating monster ate people in the night.<br/>
</p><p>Will and Carol, two people she didn’t know but, yes even the latter, didn’t deserve to be torn apart like a rag doll...they were probably dead.<br/>
</p><p>Her parents were probably in a frantic rage at home and would want to ground her for eternity, as if that could be scarier than the monster walking through walls to take people in the night.<br/>
</p><p>Barb suddenly just felt so tired as she folded her arms and rested her chin on them. “You’re welcome Steve.”<br/>
</p><p>He gave her a surprised look. “What?”<br/>
</p><p>“I said, ‘you’re welcome.’”<br/>
</p><p>Steve waited like he was expected her to say something more, so Barb just stared back. “Just like that?”<br/>
</p><p>“...sure.”<br/>
</p><p>“I...” He clearly had more to say but, again, he didn’t know how to say it. So instead of waiting, Barb just dropped her forehead to her arms and pressed down to see if the pressure on her eyes could drive away the images of red spraying from yellow.<br/>
</p><p>“It’s old news Steve.”<br/>
</p><p>For a while they sat like that. Listening to the clock tick away the seconds in that cold, forlorn kitchen as the house settled around them. Then a sound tore her from her arms.<br/>
</p><p>Steve was sniffling, tears running down his face. When he saw her watching he took a sobbing breath. “I-i-if I hadn’t been such an ass to you, do you think she would still be alive?”<br/>
</p><p>Barb wasn’t sure how she should answer that question. Wasn’t sure that she could, so she just watched Steve silently as his sobbing grew to shake his whole body and he buried his face in his hands to cry in earnest.<br/>
</p><p>The clock kept ticking and Barb could only stare mutely as Steve bawled his eyes out in the Byers kitchen for a girl she hated for the last three years of her life.</p><p> </p><p>The door slammed open and Barb’s eyes popped open again. Steve shook awake too, falling off her shoulder as he made a confused sound. That and the stomping was enough to make Barb shed sleep once more and move. She threw herself off the couch, blindly groping as something stormed into the room towards them. Her hand closing around plastic at the table, Barb picked up the remote and ran screaming at the monster that jolted them awake.<br/>
</p><p>“Jesus, fuck!” A rough hand caught her wrist, spinning her around until she dropped the remote and a rough arm smelling of faintly of sweat and cologne wrapped around one shoulder, then the other as her wrist was released. She was caught! Held at the shoulders!<br/>
</p><p>Then, realizing that the man-the-with-no face would not smell quite like that or bother to restrain its food, Barb stopped struggling. She blearily blinked up through her smudged glasses until the bewildered face of the police chief from yesterday swam into view. Thumps from the hallway as Jonathan, Nancy, and Joyce ran into the room all at once pulled Barb and the chief’s gaze away from each other.<br/>
</p><p>“Hopper what the fuck?” Joyce asked. She clearly fell asleep, like they all had, still dressed in the same rumpled clothes they wore through the other world. With most of them still streaked in that dirt, goo, and other weirdness, they all presented quite a sight that made the older man do a double take.<br/>
</p><p>“Shhh!!” He suddenly hissed with violent ferocity. He abruptly let go of Barb and seemed to hone in on the light in the middle of the room, going to it, he unscrewed it, fingers fumbling on the inside round and round until he gave it a lazy spin to screw it back halfway shut. He shuffled around the room tearing through electronics and wires and shushing any attempt that Joyce, then Jonathan, and then Nancy made to speak. Barb finally sat back down on the couch with a still red-eyed Steve and they wordlessly leaned into each other.<br/>
</p><p>Finally satisfied, the chief stopped tearing into the Byers home and looked Joyce square in the eye. “You were right.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>One handsy stalker/kidnapper scare at the end torwards Barb</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Schemes and Ploys</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hopper goes conspiracy theory. (Sadly nobody buys it)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Late morning of November 11th</b>
</p><p>Hopper took a deep breath before he said, “so, this Ives lady, she accuses this Dr. Brenner fellow of kidnapping children and running experiments to, I don’t know, give them superpowers or some bullshit so she says.” Joyce took a long drag on her cigarette, picking up one of the newspaper articles Hopper dropped on the kitchen table and giving it a cursory look. “Then there’s all this shit about this project MKUltra, but the records are empty and there’s no information about where it ended up.”<br/>
</p><p>“So what does this have to do with Will?” Joyce asked, though she wasn’t nasty about it. She was definitely curious about what made Hopper bring this to her. When he burst into the house this morning, the last thing she expected was for him to apologize and fess up about breaking into the coroner’s to find that the body there was a stuffed dummy. Then he started babbling about a lab in the woods and that was when everyone perked up and started listening in. Unfortunately, Hopper seemed to want to keep the kids out of it and took her aside to explain how he snuck in, saw a weird room, and was knocked out only to wake up in his home freshly bugged. Something he argued was why he felt compelled to turn her living room even further upside down the moment he got Barb to stop charging at him.<br/>
</p><p>It was vindictive, but after the last few days, she hoped that the bump on Hopper’s head he kept gingerly touching was Barb’s work. Goodness knew the girl could use an outlet.<br/>
</p><p>Hopper sighed again gustily like it should have been obvious. “I told you. There was a room with a child sized bed and pictures all hung up. Room was locked up like jail cell.”<br/>
</p><p><i>“Will wasn’t in the lab!”</i> Joyce just barely kept herself from shouting. He said dark and cold and empty. The place they were last night? That was where Will was.<br/>
</p><p>Hopper continued, completely unaware of the thoughts storming through Joyce’s mind. “I’m telling you, Will must have been kidnapped by these people. We track them down, air out their dirty laundry and get them to give Will back.”<br/>
</p><p>This farce was giving her a headache. About the only useful thing she’d learned so far was that the lab they found where the monster attacked that man was real. Her mind caught on an excuse and she held up a hand.<br/>
</p><p>“The pictures in the room, what did they look like?”<br/>
</p><p>Hopper boggled at her. “What?<br/>
</p><p>“The pictures, were they well done? Did they look realistic?”<br/>
</p><p>“They looked like kids drawings, Joyce! A young kid did them.”<br/>
</p><p>The man clearly still hadn’t moved on from Sarah. Though, after this affair with Will, Joyce couldn’t exactly blame him. Instead she got up, walked over to the fridge and slipped a paper out from under a magnet. “That’s not Will.” She walked back and tossed the drawing of a bloody, wounded knight waving a sword at a dragon in front of the beleaguered man. “Will draws like this.” Hopper gave her a skeptical look that this would be the thing she’d fight him on so she just shook her head. “It’s not Will.” She took another desperate drag of her cigarette.<br/>
</p><p>Hopper sighed but held up the drawing with a freshly critical eye. From the living room, Joyce could hear the teens talking. Before Hopper managed to pull her aside, Nancy had gotten worked up over something and asked Jonathan to bring out his biology textbook. Since then, the talking in the other room had gotten only more intense the longer Hopper kept trying to explain his conspiracy theory to her. Realizing she had reached the end her cigarette, she ground the butt into the ashtray and stole another one of Hopper’s from the pack on the table. She hoped the kids were having better luck than her.</p><p> </p><p>That morning, Nancy had woken up in the middle of the night with screams in her ears and the stink of blood stinging her nose. She reached for warmth and realized it was Jonathan before pulling away. After the last night, she had been expecting Steve, not Jonathan, but now at this moment, she couldn’t recall anything other than bald fear and panic after running and running in the woods.<br/>
</p><p>When had her life come to this?<br/>
</p><p>She snuck out of Jonathan’s room and ended up nearly having a heart attack as she ran into Joyce emerging from the bathroom in the hall. After a moment, she invited Nancy to take a shower and ducked into her room. “I’m sure I’ve got something you could wear in here.”<br/>
</p><p>At first the offer had been welcome, but the longer she stayed in the shower and the hotter she made the water to forget the chills and drive the memories out of her mind, the more she dwelled on her spiraling thoughts. The guilt still lingered, like a lump of cold in her stomach. No amount of heat could drive the certainty that she had left Carol to be caught by the beast two nights ago. Nor could it silence the voice that screamed that the girl was most certainly dead. Not to mention, she kept thinking to last night and memories of yellow, black, and sudden red punctuated with tortured screaming.<br/>
</p><p>When she padded out of the shower, wearing Joyce’s spare clothes, the door to the woman’s room was closed and she went looking for Steve. Wherever he was and whatever she had been expecting, it wasn’t seeing him and Barb sitting side by side on the couch. They were sound asleep, Steve snoring and drooling a bit as he rested his head on Barb’s shoulder. She quickly retreated from the two and returned to Jonathan’s room, thinking about Carol, Barb, and the sudden way the monster had appeared to eat that unfortunate man last night. All the while, every time Jonathan shifted next to her, she guiltily crawled to put a bit more space between them.<br/>
</p><p>Then Chief Hopper broke into the house and no one was getting anymore sleep.<br/>
</p><p>Unable to stand just sitting around anymore as the guilt settled in and robbed her of her appetite, Nancy had a flash of inspiration and asked Jonathan for his textbook. As the other took turns in the shower, she paged through until she found its section on animals. “Here it is!” she crowed, Jonathan leaned in and Barb looked up from the puzzle she had dragged out of the bookshelf.<br/>
</p><p>“What’d you find?” the boy asked softly.<br/>
</p><p>She beamed at Jonathan and flipped his book to face him. “Sharks can smell blood up to one part per million in the water from a range of up to a third of a mile away!”<br/>
</p><p>“Huh?”<br/>
</p><p>Barb held out her hand though and Nancy gladly turned the book over. She frowned as she read the passage. “So that’s what this is about,” her voice was distant, “That’s how it ended up at Steve’s that night.”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy nodded as Barb put the book back down and closed her eyes.<br/>
</p><p>“I don’t follow,” Jonathan confessed honestly.<br/>
</p><p>At that point Steve poked his head around the corner hair still wet and clearly without his shirt. “Jonathan, could I borrow some clothes?”<br/>
</p><p>It really said something about the four of them that he even asked, and more that Jonathan simply rolled to his feet and gave him a nod, all casual, friendly even.<br/>
</p><p>“Never thought I’d see the day that King Steve would stoop to borrow clothes from Jonathan Byers,” Barb said, a bit loftily.<br/>
</p><p>“Right?” Nancy giggled.<br/>
</p><p>“I bet he’ll give him one of the band shirts he always hears,” Barb added conspiratorially. She herself wore one of Jonathan’s loose button up shirt and jeans that just about fit if she rolled up the hems a bit. “There were so many in his closet.” The thought sent Nancy to giggles and she smiled fondly at the other girl.<br/>
</p><p>“So what was that about sharks?” Jonathan asked. Behind him, Steve trailed in more jeans that didn’t quite reach to his ankles. The “Wham” shirt he wore was just a bit too small on him and together, the outfit made him look a quite a bit like a gawky middle schooler.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy clapped a hand to her mouth as Barb chortled without restraint as the boys joined them.<br/>
</p><p>“Something funny?” Steve asked. He was a far sight better than yesterday. Still a bit detached, but much less moody. Barb just shook her head, and to Nancy’s surprise, he nodded and let it go. “Did I hear you guys mention sharks?” The light mood faded as Nancy and Barb filled them in on what they found about the monster.<br/>
</p><p>Once they were on the same page, Steve looked away. It wasn’t until he got up and picked something off the coffee table that the others realized he had left the discussion.<br/>
</p><p>“She died because of this didn’t she?”<br/>
</p><p>All morning, Steve had referenced “she” and “her” with only one person in mind and never by name. Now he stared at the knife and Barb’s skin prickled, her mind remembering the careless cut and drip of blood that night less only a few days ago. As she fought free of the memory, Nancy reached out and put a hand on Steve’s arm. He didn’t seem to react, just turned the knife over and over. His eyes lingered on the now brown and flaking marks on the silvery metal, all still caught in the monster-smeared insides of the plastic bag. The feeling of wrongness coming from Steve sat badly with Barb and she resolved to keep an eye on the tall boy, especially after last night.<br/>
</p><p>“So,” Nancy was the one to broach the topic. “This thing likes blood. I say we can use that to our advantage.”<br/>
</p><p>“Is that, really the best idea?” Jonathan was the first to speak and hesitated looking at the others.<br/>
</p><p>“No,” Barb answered baldly. “But I’m not going to let that stop me.” Steve gave her a curt nod and Jonathan stared at his hands.<br/>
</p><p>A beep from the kitchen cut off the conversation there and gave the kids pause.<br/>
</p><p>“Damn it.” Hopper’s voice floated out. Then hushed whispering broke out and quickly escalated, until Joyce stormed out, trying to light her smoke as she muttered darkly under her breath and slammed the door to her room behind her.<br/>
</p><p>As one, the kids turned to Hopper who stood in the door of the kitchen rubbing his eyes.<br/>
</p><p>“What’d you say?” Jonathan stood, his tone far more aggressive than just accusatory. Hopper took one look, then raised his eyes skyward like he was praying for strength.<br/>
</p><p>“Right. Will’s funeral is in an hour. Jonathan, you going to step up to be there?”<br/>
</p><p>“What?” As one, Nancy and Barb grabbed for the boy’s hands as his enraged charge at the older man was foiled before it fully began.<br/>
</p><p>“Your father already made all the arrangements,” Hopper sighed gruffly. “And people are going to talk if no one else is there.”<br/>
</p><p>“Let them talk!” Jonathan snarled. “That’s all they ever do. Talk. They never. Help.” He snarled with enough anger to thoroughly enunciate each word. The chief sighed, meeting Jonathan’s unspoken accusation head on with an even gaze.<br/>
</p><p>“I’m sorry about that. We did what we could, but there are laws.”<br/>
</p><p>“Fuck the law!” Steve clamped hands around the other boys’ shoulders to pin flailing arms back with a surprised, ‘Woah there.’ Jonathan was practically frothing at the mouth. “The law didn’t help us ever when Lonnie went after mom and I. Why should we believe you’ll help us now?”<br/>
</p><p>Hopper’s eyes drooped. The Byers divorce had been very messy and one of the first cases to land on his desk after becoming chief here. He didn’t have the heart in him to tell Jonathan how long it had taken to convince Joyce to see the damage Lonnie was wreaking on their family to come forth and file for divorce and domestic abuse. It was just another unspoken reason for their continued distance on top of everything that brought his and Joyce lives so far apart after high school.<br/>
</p><p>Instead of all that, he said, “We’re doing all we can to find Will. I’m going to pull in all my favors to look into this lead with the lab, but kid. We need time, and to keep other people’s eyes off this.” One problem with going after the lab like this was that he already showed his hand getting caught and bugged last night. The last thing he needed was those people seeing anything else odd with the Byers and coming after them on top of everything else. The report Benny made about Will before they found him dead with a bullet in his head sent horrified chills as he imagined Joyce and Jonathan’s struggle to hide their eminent rage and fear over Will’s disappearance. With a sheepish mumble he admitted, “it won’t exactly be on the books.”<br/>
</p><p>“You always, I, wha - ?” Jonathan’s rage broke abruptly<br/>
</p><p>“We’re going after the lab,” he tried assuring the boy. “They’ve got kids locked up in there for some reason and we’re going to need to keep their eyes off me and your mom while we look into things.”<br/>
</p><p>“Fuck the lab, he’s in, agh!” Jonathan’s anguished howl made no sense to him, but the way the other kids rallied around him and tried to shush him gave him pause. There was a story here, but he’d probably have better luck trying to get it out of Joyce. Jonathan wouldn’t even look him in the eyes, couldn’t as Nancy grabbed his face and began whispering to him, fast and fierce as she watched him something fierce.<br/>
</p><p>“Goddamn it.” Hopper muttered. Where was this rabbit hole going to end up?</p><p> </p><p>“…not going to believe us, of course not.” Nancy said to Jonathan “That’s why we’re going to go to the funeral, do the walk and dance, and then we’re going to trap this thing so we can go back into the woods and find Will and Carol when we’re done.” Nobody called her out on the way the hole to the other world closed up after them last night, but it was as solid a plan as anyone seemed to come up with.<br/>
</p><p>Steve nodded silently at that while Barb glared over his shoulder at Hopper watching them. The man finally seemed to take the message and retreated to the kitchen. Despite that, Nancy kept her voice low as she ran a hand through her hair. “So we’re ok? I’m thinking we should get something to keep it in place, a bear trap or something! It moves so fast.”<br/>
</p><p>“I’ll get that,” the promise in that made Steve’s voice go cold as frost as the anger and grief on him finally found an outlet. Nancy nodded, but then Jonathan shook his head.<br/>
</p><p>“No.”<br/>
</p><p>“What?” “Excuse me?” Nancy just gave Jonathan a befuddled, but patient look.<br/>
</p><p>“I’ll go alone.” Jonathan nodded stiffly. “You guys should get things ready without me. I’ll follow up when the funerals done, but we’ll get a better head start on catching this thing if we’re in two groups.”<br/>
</p><p>“That makes sense,” Barb nodded slowly. Her eyes were on Nancy though as the girl watched Jonathan with sad eyes.<br/>
</p><p>“Are you going to be okay,” the other girl began in a hush, “going to face your dad like that, though?” Lonnies’ behavior didn’t win him any points with the kids yesterday and even Steve turned to watch Jonathan’s answer as the boy considered an answer.<br/>
</p><p>He nodded, blinking as his licked his lips and said, “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”<br/>
</p><p>“Bullshit,” Steve sighed. Then he buried his face in his hands. “Someone needs to go with you Byers, we don’t need you running around like a loose cannon.” He cleared his throat. “Me acting like a dumbass like last night is bad enough.”<br/>
</p><p>“Are you concerned about me?” The slighter boy gave Steve an amused look. “Who are you and what have you done with Harrington?” Steve rolled his eyes with lips slightly upturned as he gave Jonathan a light shove. As Jonathan shoved back, Nancy gave Barb a meaningful look, earning her the razor edge of a smirk from the taller girl.<br/>
</p><p>Maybe they could do this.</p><p> </p><p>Barb wasn’t exactly surprised that Nancy volunteered to go the funeral with Jonathan, but rather that Steve seemed okay with it. Her boyfriend didn’t seem aware of it, but Jonathan’s eyes softened and he settled down quickly after Nancy committed to going with him. Steve himself seemed more concerned with asking Barb about the guns they brought back. While Jonathan went to go talk to his mother and Hopper, they went out back and found a bag of cans in the trash for target practice.<br/>
</p><p>Joyce emerged from the house looking freshly showered and eyes blazing. She walked up to the teens, and pulled them close. “I need the three of you to promise me something. Do not go into the woods and do not let Jonathan get into any trouble while I’m gone.” Steve nodded morosely, oddly respectful of Joyce’s directives. Nancy, however, looked about to spill the beans on their plan so Barb leapt in. “Of course Joyce. We’ve got Jonathan’s back.”<br/>
</p><p>Being shared witnesses to the events of last night, Barb couldn’t help but notice they were all closer than before, more patient, more kind with each other. Still, as Joyce gave her a fond look with such gratitude in the tilt of her head and her shining eyes, Barb couldn’t help but feel like she really meant what she said to Joyce just now.<br/>
</p>
<p>And besides, if they were testing theories, then maybe they wouldn’t have to go into the woods. Barb wouldn’t be lying then.<br/>
</p><p>At the sound of a honk, Joyce walked off to the sheriff’s station wagon where Hopper waited with the engine already running.<br/>
</p><p>“Do you think they’ll find anything about Will?” Barb couldn’t help but ask. Carol was better off unmentioned, even as she whispered the question to Nancy.<br/>
</p><p>“We still don’t know about that weird lab in the woods. It’s definitely suspicious,” Nancy murmured back.<br/>
</p><p>They watched the two adults drive out of sight into the woods, then looked to each other. Barb was half a mind to ask about Jonathan again like the question had been dancing on the tip of her tongue all morning. In turn, Nancy looked like she had something to say of her own.<br/>
</p><p>The bang of a gun made them both jump and whirl on Steve. “Dammit,” he cocked the gun and raised it to eye level again.<br/>
</p><p>“Steve!” Nancy smacked at his shoulder.<br/>
</p><p>“Not while he has the gun!” Barb squeaked as the boy swore and nearly dropped the firearm.<br/>
</p><p>“You going to bitch all morning, or are we going to test these things out?” Steve groused, not unkindly.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy just huffed and shook her head in disbelief. Barb though, she picked up the sole hunting rifle they salvaged and gripped it tight. Experimentally she set it on her shoulder and raised it. As the bang of Steve taking another shot, and missing, sounded, she noticed the sighting on the rifle and raised the gun carefully. Fixing the next can over to Steve’s in the crosshairs, she focused, imagining the rumpled silver of metal to be glistening black and her grip tightened on the barrel and stock. “Bang.” She intoned.<br/>
</p><p>The rifle repeated her, and the blowback knocked her back, unprepared. Luckily her finger went off the trigger as she went down.<br/>
</p><p>“Barb!” Nancy was quick to help her up, but Steve whistled as he held a hand over his eyes.<br/>
</p><p>“Nice shot Barb, knocked it right off the fence!” Sure enough, the zing of struck metal rang in their ears. The shot hit true with the can nowhere in sight.<br/>
</p><p>“Now I just have to do that without getting knocked on my ass every time.” She muttered, taking Nancy’s hand and rising. When she looked at her friend’s face though she paused, “You ok Nance?”<br/>
</p><p>The other girl smiled, but she shook her head. “I’m just trying to get used to…this.” She waved at Barb, who rolled her eyes. “Seriously, though if you told me a week ago, I’d be out here shooting guns with you and cursing, like really?”<br/>
</p><p>Barb had to quirk a smile at that and Steve actually chimed in. “Barb you’re a secret Rambo. Seriously, she’s right, you got balls. And you saved my ass. I could learn a thing or two from you.” He then swore as he missed another shot.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy couldn’t help but be curious. “Let me have a chance at that.” Steve glared at the can as he handed the pistol over.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy took a few more steps out, and, mindful of Barb, set her feet apart and braced herself. “What was it you did Barb? Raise the gun…”<br/>
</p><p>“Mine has an aim-y thingy on top.”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy’s didn’t. “Hmm.” Nancy focused on the end of the barrel of the gun. “A little higher cuz the bullet comes out lower.”<br/>
</p><p>“Brace yourself,” Steve advised as he fished out another of their guns.<br/>
</p><p>“Steady…” Nancy exhaled, “and…”<br/>
</p><p>Another ping of metal rang out and the can went flying as Barb whooped.<br/>
</p><p>“Nice one Nancy!” Steve held out his hand and they high-fived. “Let me try.”<br/>
</p><p>A full six shots later, Steve frowned at the gun. “Maybe I should stick with my bat.”<br/>
</p><p>“We’ll fix you up in style,” Barb patted him on the shoulder, her delight still shining through so it didn’t come off as mocking as she could make it. “Make you a king of bats.”<br/>
</p><p>He gave her a grin. “That does sound nice.”<br/>
</p><p>“Don’t encourage him,” Nancy smacked her friend, more amused than appalled.<br/>
</p><p>“What, does he need to compensate?” Barb asked archly with a raised brow.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy turned crimson as Steve flushed in embarrassment. “Let’s go find Jonathan.” The boy sulked as he turned away. Barb cackled and he flipped her the finger with a roll of his eyes, but she just clapped good-naturedly as she winked at a mortified Nancy. As the others went ahead, Barb packed up the guns savoring the steady weight of the rifle strapped to her shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>At that moment, Jonathan was halfway into the musty suit jacket that he kept for serious occasions. His mom had stopped by for a hug after he got assurances for her safety from Hopper. Not that he trusted the bigger man after the mess with Lonnie yesterday, but it was better than nothing. It also got his mom away so they could make a move on trapping the man-with-no-face since she would just object and try to shut them down. Now, he struggled with the suit. It was an old thing Lonnie had left it behind and Joyce hadn’t gotten to throwing out. In a way it reminded him of the old suits he wore for Sunday service before the fighting began. Before Will.<br/>
</p><p>The thoughts came to him as he realized he was zoning out in front of the mirror, checking the lapels of the muddy brown suit. “What a fucking waste of time.” He shrugged out of it and tossed it on the ground, pulling his winter jacket on instead. Leaving the room, he searched the house, poking his head until the sounds of gunfire from the backyard drew his attention. Seeing the other’s target practice, he went to join them, only to meet them halfway coming back.<br/>
</p><p>“Here,” Steve held out a pistol. “Maybe you’ll have better luck than me with this.”<br/>
</p><p>“Maybe you should try the shotgun?” Barb called over.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy gave her a look askew. “What makes you say that?”<br/>
</p><p>“I think we got buckshot and it’s better up close.” Barb adjusted her glasses, “You don’t remember the stump my dad showed us?” Nancy’s mouth formed an O and she looked away nodding. To Steve, Barb explained, “It’s doesn’t have the range, but it’s good for bringing something down when you’re close enough to hit it. More of a punch.”<br/>
</p><p>“Since when do you know so much about guns anyway?” Jonathan couldn’t help but ask.<br/>
</p><p>“Since my dad never shuts up about them.” Barb sighed, long suffering.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy nodded along with that. “That he does.”<br/>
</p><p>“Huh,” Steve held up the shotgun they had salvaged. At the same time he shrugged. “Maybe let Jonathan give it a shot. He might’ve picked up something else from his mom.”<br/>
</p><p>“We have two of them.” Barb pointed out. The one from Melvalds was still in the house. Now that she thought about it, Hopper and Joyce seemed to be giving them a whole of credit leaving them playing with guns.<br/>
</p><p>“I don’t think a crowbar would hold do much damage,” Jonathan admitted about his last choice of armament.<br/>
</p><p>“What if I’m a worse shot than with the pistol?” Steve asked.<br/>
</p><p>The girls shuddered. “No offense, but stick with the bat Steve,” Nancy told him. He whistled cheerfully as they walked away.</p><p> </p><p>“You guys remember the channel?”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy nodded and rattled off the number they agreed to. In her purse was one of the walkie talkies Barb found for them last night. Barb held the other one herself. “We’ll meet you at the hunting store.”<br/>
</p><p>“No, come to my place.”<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan gave Steve an incredulous look. “Why?”<br/>
</p><p>“No one’s home. My parents are out traveling on a business trip. And we know its been there for Barb, her, and Nancy.” Steve’s eyes were dark with emotion. “And we promised Joyce. No woods.”<br/>
</p><p>What gave Barb pause was Steve’s mention of the promise. Seeing that she would be going with him, she nodded with a sigh, giving him her backing. “We’ll set up the trap at Steve’s house.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. The Trap</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Content warning</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Noon of November 11th</b> </p><p>“…such a loss,” Jonathan bobbed his head at the woman expressing her condolences. Mrs. Witters was a sentimental, nervous wreck even at the best of times and now she was on the verge of breaking into tears again. Still, he couldn’t exactly blame her nor hold it against her. As Will’s art teacher, she was encouraging of even his more bloodthirsty pieces and always had kind words for his little brother. Of the people here, she was one of the few whose bereavement Jonathan took to heart.<br/>
</p><p>As her husband guided her away, Johnathan peeked about and quickly scuttled out of the way before anyone else noticed he was free to drop more empty words of pity.<br/>
</p><p>Too many teachers here for Will were ones that Jonathan had growing up. All too few of them were willing to try and stand up and say anything when Jonathan had come to school with bruises and tears after a fresh outburst from Lonnie at home. It left him irritable as his eyes smoldered on the casket with the fake body just beyond. What was it Hopper said? Stuffed full of cotton, like someone’s thrown away rag doll.<br/>
</p><p>“We could steal it and set it on fire once everyone leaves.”<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan gave Nancy a bemused smirk as she sidled up to him. “What happened to Miss Prim and Proper?”<br/>
</p><p>She sipped at a paper cup of juice then smacked her lips. “The same place where my sanity and patience have gone.”<br/>
</p><p>“That’s not spiked…?”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy glared at the Welch grape juice. “I wish.” She downed the rest at once. “Though maybe not given what we’re planning to do tonight.” She held herself with chin high, but there was a faint tremble and her breath hitched as she tried to breath deeply. This whole thing was weighing on Nancy and yet, she seemed insistent to follow him around this miserable charade. Was it pity?<br/>
</p><p><i>“Was it something more?” </i>He allowed himself the temptation of wondering.<br/>
</p><p>Her eyes suddenly narrowed. “Huh.” He followed her gaze then repeated her.<br/>
</p><p>Together they walked over to the table and caught the tail of the explanation.<br/>
</p><p>“…Here’s where things get really interesting. The flea can also travel this way... along the side of the rope. He can even go...underneath the rope.”<br/>
</p><p>“Upside down.” Chorused Will’s friends as the two teenagers listened in.<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan waved slightly at Mr. Clark as he sat with Lucas, Dustin, and Nancy’s little brother. It earned him a sad smile from the older man, but as the older man went to stand, Mike asked, “So we can’t go upside down?”<br/>
</p><p>Mr. Clark hesitated, clearly torn between his passion as a teacher, but Jonathan held up a hand for him to continue to the boys. “No.”<br/>
</p><p>“Well, is there any way for the acrobat to get to the Upside Down?<br/>
</p><p>Evidently, Mr. Clark found this amusing as he picked up the paper plate and pencil he had been using to illustrate his points. “Well... you’d have to create a massive amount of energy. More than humans are currently capable of creating, mind you, to open up some kind of tear in time and space, and then...” He folded the plate and stabbed it with his pencil. “you create a doorway.”<br/>
</p><p>“Like a gate?” One of the boys asked.<br/>
</p><p>At the same time, Nancy asked, “Like a hole?”<br/>
</p><p>“Sure,” Mr. Clark smiled at them both as the boys whirled on Nancy and Jonathan. “Like those.”<br/>
</p><p>Mike glared at his sister. “You are in so much trouble when Mom sees you.” She only shrugged as Mike glowered and folded his arms at her.<br/>
</p><p>Mr. Clark was already extricating himself from the table and holding his hand out to Jonathan. “Very sorry about your loss, son.”<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan gave him a weak smile. “Thanks Mr. Clark. It means a lot to hear that from you. Will always talked about the cool stuff in your class.”<br/>
</p><p>“Right,” Mr. Clark coughed. There was an apologetic wrinkling around his eyes. “I only wish I could’ve done more. Just remember, if you need anything, all you have to do is ask.”<br/>
</p><p>And Jonathan knew, he was one of the ones that meant that. Mr. Clark had just become a teacher at Hawkins Middle School when the divorce had been going down. He had tried to ask Jonathan. Even said the same thing: “All you have to do is ask,” if he wanted to talk about things, but at that point, Jonathan wasn’t really talking to anyone but his mom and Will. If he had only been there a bit earlier…At the very least, he always seemed to have a kind word and memorable story of Will in class he always shared with Joyce to his little brother’s embarrassment.<br/>
</p><p>“Thanks Mr. Clark, it really means a lot from you.” Jonathan croaked out before he excused himself for something to drink.<br/>
</p><p>After a moment of loving sibling irritation, Nancy had to look for Jonathan and found him staring into the juice bowl. She touched his shoulder. “You know, thinking about what he said earlier…”<br/>
</p><p>“Who?” Jonathan tried to ignore the spiel from Lonnie they had walked in on. It was just as well they missed most of it, he probably would’ve tried to sock his old man in the face again, just for good measure.<br/>
</p><p>“Mr. Clark,” she reminded him. “He was talking about crossing back and forth between another world.”<br/>
</p><p>“Huh.” Then his brain caught up to him with a blur of blackened skin and blood. “Seriously?”<br/>
</p><p>“Yeah,” Nancy sounded just as incredulous as him. “A hole in time and space, Johnathan. Are you thinking of what I’m thinking?”<br/>
</p><p>A moment later they were out the door as Nancy fumbled in her purse for the walkie talkie.</p><p> </p><p>“What are you kids planning to do with all this?”<br/>
</p><p>As the hunt store proprietor stared at the mess on his counter, Barb and Steve looked to each other. “Hunting,” Barb replied evenly. The man snorted, but after a moment, he just started to ring them up anyways.<br/>
</p><p>As the purchases piled up, Barb poked through the pile and then picked up a propane tank. She raised a brow. Was Steve planning on buying this man out of stock? At the end of it, the man sighed and shuffled into the back. “I got some boxes in the back.”<br/>
</p><p>“Did you mean to buy all of that?” Barb couldn’t help but ask as they secured the last of the overflow from her trunk in the back seat.<br/>
</p><p>Steve glanced back. “Better safe than sorry.”<br/>
</p><p>She hesitated, “But it cost so much.”<br/>
</p><p>Steve closed the door on his side. “Dad’s not even going to notice it. Trust me.”<br/>
</p><p>“I’m just going to keep this where I can keep an eye on it,” Barb muttered as she fished out the small propane tank and closed the door on their purchases carefully. “Do you want to get your car?” she asked as she buckled up and carefully kept the propane tank steady on her lap. It hadn’t occurred to her until now. Certainly, their purchases would have fit into it better. But Steve just made an “Ehhhh,” sound so Barb told him to buckle up and then she made for Loch Nora.<br/>
</p><p>Unceremoniously, Steve began dropping boxes in the foyer and unloading supplies on the dining table, so Barb followed his lead. It wasn’t until he returned from the garage with another baseball bat that she thought she was forgetting something.<br/>
</p><p>An urgent pounding on the door made her heart race and Steve drop a roll of barbed wire before she remembered. “Shit, where’s the walkie?”<br/>
</p><p>Steve made for the door at a low crouch, checked the peephole, then sighed and relaxed as he opened the door to admit Nancy and Jonathan.<br/>
</p><p>“Why haven’t you been answering?” Nancy demanded the moment she got in.<br/>
</p><p>“Walkies in the car.” Barb sighed. “I’ll get it.”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy gave her a frown but then sighed and flapped a hand at her friend. There were real reasons to be upset and they were past bickering over these small things now. “Don’t worry about it. We have something interesting to talk about.”</p><p> </p><p>“So…this thing can cross between worlds?” Steve had his hands up, eyes wide. “Just like that?”<br/>
</p><p>“That’s why.” Jonathan licked at his lips nervously. “Why Barb saw something in the pool even though nothing was there. Why mom could see Will in the walls.”<br/>
</p><p>“Why the hole just closed up like that last night,” Barb sighed and glared at the bear trap. If this thing really could walk through walls to a whole other world, then what could they hope to do?<br/>
</p><p>“But this means Will and Carol are out there, somewhere in that world with the weird woods!” Nancy argued. “Don’t you see what this means?”<br/>
</p><p>“That they’re utterly screwed?” Steve moaned. Jonathan kicked at him with a scowl.<br/>
</p><p>But Nancy was shaking her head. “Mr. Clark said that you need a massive energy source to punch a hole between worlds.”<br/>
</p><p>When she looked to them Barb gestured for her to continue. “Meaning?”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy just sighed and slumped. “Come on guys, what was on the sign at the lab? The Department of Energy! Doesn’t get more powerful than the national government!”<br/>
</p><p>“So Hopper was onto something?” Jonathan begrudgingly asked.<br/>
</p><p>“Doesn’t get more suspicious than secret government labs in the woods and a hole to another world right nearby does it?” Barb answered for him.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy, tapped at the table, brows furrowed in thought. “It sounds like one of my brother’s horror movies or games,” she admitted. “But it checks out doesn’t it?” Nancy nodded to herself. “The lab does something to break to another world and the monster gets loose in Hawkins. It takes Will. It goes after hunters in the wood.” She ticked off her fingers. “Teens at a house near the woods…” her eyes ran over the house around them.<br/>
</p><p>“So what do we do?” Steve asked her.<br/>
</p><p>After a moment she stood up and dragged a box of bullets to her. “It means we have do more than trap it.” She busied herself organizing their munitions. “We have to kill it if we want a chance to get Will and Carol out alive. What’s the point of trying to get them out if this thing can just drag them back every time?”<br/>
</p><p>Suicidal though it seemed, no one could disagree.<br/>
</p><p>They all fell into a quiet hour of work and preparation. Steve and Jonathan took the bat Steve grabbed from Melvalds and the spare from his garage and spiked them both with nails. They carefully worked together to wrap barbed wire around them to seal the deal. Barb busied herself cleaning their firearms and dividing the copious amounts of ammo Steve purchased into pouches she dug out from a closet. Nancy set about testing the bear trap Steve bought, rigging it with a yoyo until she was satisfied she knew exactly how it worked and hunted for a good place in the house to set it up.<br/>
</p><p>By that point, the sun was going down and it was getting close to dinner. The boys were setting their handiwork aside when the bell again. Both of them scrambled into the hall, bats in hand. Nancy and Barb peeked in from the foyer as the doorknob rattled and turned with a click.<br/>
</p><p>A quiet “shit” sounded and the lights flared on. “Tommy?” Steve startled as the other boy entered the house using his spare key. He quicky set his bat against the wall and walked forward.<br/>
</p><p>“Steve.” Then he did a double take. “Nancy? B- What are you two doing with Freak 1 and Freak 2?”<br/>
</p><p>“Hey,” Barb snapped at him as Jonathan’s jaw set.<br/>
</p><p>“What are you doing here?” Steve asked.<br/>
</p><p>“Stevie boy, the hell are you talking about? Why didn’t you answer my call?” Tommy swallowed, looking just as strained as Jonathan. He raised his chin in a challenging tilt at Steve. “I spent the night in the clink. Where the fuck were you when I called?”<br/>
</p><p>“Oh, shit, wait what?” Steve had to make sure he heard that right.<br/>
</p><p>“I spent the night in jail, Stevie! They gave me the one phone call, and you never picked up. What the hell?” While Steve stared at the red light on his answering machine, Tommy gave him a hard shove that nearly sent him sprawling towards Jonathan. Luckily, the other boy caught him.<br/>
</p><p>“Woah Tommy, he was out looking for Carol with us.” Nancy rushed over.<br/>
</p><p>Tommy gave her a sneer and stabbed his finger at her face as she stumbled back. “Oh yeah, sure. He was with Barbara the Bump and Stalker Byers here looking for Carol, how dumb do you think I am you bitch?”<br/>
</p><p>“Woah, hey, not cool Tommy!” Steve moved to intercept him, only for Tommy to throw a roundhouse at him. He only just ducked at the last second. “Chill!” Steve rose and grabbed Tommy’s arm. “What the fuck? Honest to goodness truth Tommy, we were out looking for Carol!”<br/>
</p><p>“Don’t fucking lie to me Steve!” Tommy yelled. “The cops found your bimmer in the woods and towed it in. And you’re here?<br/>
</p><p>“Tommy, I can explai –“<br/>
</p><p>“What?” Tommy spit in his face, “Screwing Nancy wasn’t enough, you had to go full fag and screw By-“<br/>
</p><p>Steve threw a punch of his own and caught Tommy in the jaw, shutting him up with the crack of flesh connecting against bone. As the other three stared aghast, Tommy laughed harshly. “You fucking idiot, you think you can take me? HUH?”<br/>
</p><p>Steve went down clutching an eye and rolling on the ground. Even as Nancy jumped forward, pushing at Tommy and telling him to stop, the other boy kicked at Steve where he lay on the ground. “Think beating up Byers means you can take me? You pussy!”<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan scrambled to grab at the other boy, wrestling for Tommy’s arm as the bulkier boy pulled back. Caught off balance, Tommy instead socked Jonathan in the stomach with his other arm causing the lanky boy to wheeze and stumble away.<br/>
</p><p>“You fairy ass fag, you want some of this?”<br/>
</p><p>“Enough.” The click of a gun loading punctuated Barb as she raised the pistol on Tommy. “Get out.”<br/>
</p><p>The room stilled. Suddenly Tommy cackled. “What, fucking Steve makes you a man Bump? You don’t got the –“<br/>
</p><p>Barb turned, took her aim, and shot in the space of a breath. The crack of the shot far outstripped the tinkle of ceramic as a vase of flowers shattered into shards and spilled water. “Get out.” She cocked the gun again and took a step forward toward Tommy, cold fire in her eyes.<br/>
</p><p>“The fuck,” Tommy inched towards the door. “You really will fuck anyone won’t you Harrington?”<br/>
</p><p>“Out!” Barb bellowed. Tommy scrambled for the door. “Drop the key too!” Tommy swore and fumbled in his pocket, then threw it back at them as he dove out the door. Barb advanced, gun still ready until she locked the door and then leaned against it, breath escaping in a drawn-out sigh.<br/>
</p><p>“Barb,” Jonathan laughed wheezily as he stumbled over and clapped her on the shoulder, “That was badass.” She gave him a weary grin as the adrenaline seemed to leave her at once.<br/>
</p><p>“What an asshole,” she sighed.<br/>
</p><p>“Yup,” Jonathan chuckled as he leaned his head on her shoulder agreeably.<br/>
</p><p>“Steve,” Nancy sighed, “You’re bleeding. Your nose.” She wiped at the spilled blood smearing it rather than managing to clean his face. Then she froze. “You’re bleeding.”<br/>
</p><p>Steve’s good eye popped open as Barb and Jonathan also came to dreaded realization. “Bind it. Quick!” Barb hissed fingers suddenly numb as she fumbled to reload the pistol.<br/>
</p><p>“It’s his nose!” Nancy hissed as she pulled a shaky Steve to his feet, “We can’t just cover that up with a bandage!”<br/>
</p><p>“Plug his nose!”<br/>
</p><p>Then Nancy froze as the light started to surge and flicker on and off.<br/>
</p><p>“The lights. Again.” Jonathan whispered, horrified. He dove for the bats grabbing one and reaching for the other when a gurgling and thud from the back made them all go still. “Tell me I’m hearing things,” he croaked.<br/>
</p><p>“Door,” Nancy rasped, sounding completely alien. The blinking of the lights cast the horror in her eyes in bleak relief as she yanked her dazed boyfriend to the door.<br/>
</p><p>Barb fumbled with the latch she just did up and another awfully familiar cry answered the rattling of the metal. Then the sound of glass shattering accompanied Barb finally throwing the door open and Nancy ran straight through with a squeak, her grip on Steve like iron.<br/>
</p><p>“Shit!” Jonathan yelped. As the lights flickered, they caught and flashed on glossy black as the tall black form from last night, the man-with-no-face, appeared at the end of the dusk-shadowed hall like a strobe motion picture. The flickering was playing havoc with his vision as he raised one bat and tried to steady his breathing.<br/>
</p><p>“Jonathan!” Barb wailed, just the nudge to get him moving and he backed up to her.<br/>
</p><p>The man-with-no-face rose to its full height and then, in the dark moment between visible lighting, its face split open. Its flesh came apart as the hole in its face roared at them and Jonathan felt one of the bats slide out of suddenly numb fingers.<br/>
</p><p>Barb fired on the thing, one shot, two, as it flinched. Then it shrugged off the shots almost immediately and roared despite the rest of the magazine firing. It only seemed angrier as Barb’s shaking fingers lowered and dropped the gun in the face of the pit in the monster’s head flapping at her, so much worse than she had envisioned.<br/>
</p><p>“Go!” Jonathan dropped the other bat as he grabbed Barb’s hand and ran for the door. Throwing her out, he awkwardly yanked the door shut behind him and ran for the driveway. Barb was fumbling for her keys while Nancy and Steve were already in the backseat. Then the door shook, its glass shattering and the sturdy wood buckling under the force of the blow.<br/>
</p><p>“Get in!” Nancy howled to them as Jonathan threw himself across the hood and somehow did not fall flat on his face. He tore open the side door desperately as Barb triggered the ignition. Then Steve’s front door flew out of its hinges into the lawn in two splintered pieces. Barb was white with terror, unable to even scream like Nancy did as she slammed the reverse and pulled them right out the drive way, off the curb on the other side of the road. There they had the perfect view of the man-with-no-face as it stood, framed in the foyer lights, gaping maw fluttering, and that gurgling whining roar again. As it crouched, clearly intending to give chase Barb managed to shift the gears and swerved away just as desperately as the last night she had at Steve’s.<br/>
</p><p>Steve clutched at the door handle for all he was worth, pale not just with terror, but pain, as his nose still trickled blood. With Barb minding the road, Nancy and Jonathan were the only ones to turn back and watch. The night-veiled thing roared from the middle of the road in Steve’s wealthily empty cul-de-sac and then tore into the road below and out of view.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Content warning for homophobic comments and the f word.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Convalescence</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Evening of November 11th</b>
</p><p>“Shit. Shit, shit.” Steve banged his the back of his head against his seat head steadily.<br/>
</p><p>“Steve. Steve!” Nancy pulled another tissue from the dusty pack Jonathan pulled out of Barb’s glove compartment and gently pulled Steve closer. “We gotta get you cleaned up.”<br/>
</p><p>“It destroyed the front door. My bimmer, I - . My dad. Oh, I’m fucking dead,” Steve buried his face in his hands, then let them fall to his lap, eyes still closed as he whispered, “ow.”<br/>
</p><p>Barb, swallowed an absurd urge to laugh at that last quiet admission from Steve, but she kept her eyes on the road. Her hands were still trembling and she didn’t trust herself the way she felt detached and unfocused after that last encounter. “Where am I going?” she realized, asking that aloud in the hope the others would know.<br/>
</p><p>“Not my place,” Nancy sighed, gentle as she administered to Steve’s bloodied face.<br/>
</p><p>“And not mine.” Barb sighed. She glanced at Jonathan.<br/>
</p><p>He gave her a confused nod. “Like you have to ask?”<br/>
</p><p>Instead, Barb looked back to the road and hesitated. “What if it smells Steve bleeding again, like at his house?”<br/>
</p><p>There was no assurance Jonathan could give to ward off that so he slumped into his seat thinking. “We’re going to need somewhere to stay the night. And that’s where my mom’s going to call for us if she does.”<br/>
</p><p>After a moment, Barb sighed and hit her turn signal. “When you’re right, you’re right.”</p><p> </p><p>At the Byers residence, the first thing they did was send Jonathan in for a wet rag. He returned with the first aid kit Nancy took from Melvalds and they got Steve cleaned up. Even after that, they waited in the car a bit longer to be sure that the thing wasn’t going to crawl out of the walls on them again, shivering from more than just the cold creeping in, even with the heating on full blast. At last, by some unspoken agreement Jonathan and Steve stepped out. They ignored fresh protests from the girls about staying put, to patrol and check one last time. Nancy wanted to argue, but at the last minute Barb’s unhappy sigh left her curious for a private word.<br/>
</p><p>“What's up Barb?”<br/>
</p><p>The other girl drummed her fingers on the wheel. “I thought…never mind its silly.”<br/>
</p><p>“Barb…I’d never laugh at you.” Nancy murmured softly. As Barb gave her a stiff look, she slumped unhappily. “And I’m sorry about that night. I never apologized to you did I? I shouldn’t have dragged you to that party, I – I almost got you killed! You were right. And, I know its not much, but I’m really sorry I hurt you.”<br/>
</p><p>Eventually Barb took a sniffly, rattling breath to break the silence. “I…I keep dreaming about that thing chasing me. Only now I dream of it…eating me! Lord.” She sniffed and plucked up a tissue, checking to see it was clear of Steve’s blood, before dabbing at her eyes. “I thought that if I could shoot that thing, if I could kill it, I’d finally be free. But it’s a monster!” Her bark of abrupt laughter had a despondent edge to it. “A bullet proof monster. I shot it six times and it didn’t go down!” Finally, she looked at Nancy. “How are we going to stop it without it killing us Nancy?” despair in her dark amber eyes.<br/>
</p><p>The smaller girl leaned forward to and clasped the other girl’s hand in hers. “We’ll find a way to stop it, some way!” she promised. Barb didn’t look like she believed it, but she nodded and sniffled miserably. “At the very least, you didn’t freeze up. You shot at it.”<br/>
</p><p>“Fat lot of good that did us,” Barb said thickly.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy squeezed her hand. “At least you did that. I just ran.”<br/>
</p><p>Barb mulled that over as the lights came on inside and Steve waved them in. Before she let go, she squeezed Nancy’s hand back.</p><p> </p><p>When Jonathan beckoned for her to go to Joyce’s room, Barb hesitated. “Really?”<br/>
</p><p>He gave her a nod. “Steve and Nancy can sleep in my room. I’ll be in…in Will’s.”<br/>
</p><p>About to comment about the wisdom of letting the girl he clearly had a crush on shack up in his room with her boyfriend, Barb’s comment died in her mouth and she nodded her understanding. Instead, she escaped the awkward moment by retreating to Joyce’s room, clicking the door shut behind her. She stood there in the dark quiet, listening to the others rattle around the house outside before she walked over and fell on the bed. She closed her eyes for a moment, just to clear her mind, only to be betrayed by her own body as she dozed off straight away. But the visage of a featureless face blooming open jolted her awake as she gasped and coughed for breath in the dark of Joyce’s empty room which was in no way familiar. Her stomach protested and the faintness of deep hunger ultimately drove her to the kitchen. At the table there, half empty snack bags and a few waffles plus crumbs clearly showed some sort of a meal had been cobbled together.<br/>
</p><p>Steve’s head rose from where he rested it on the knee pulled up on his seat. He set the ice that he had been holding to his eye aside. “Dinner,” he said eloquently, waving at the kitchen. “Casserole in the fridge if you want it.”<br/>
</p><p>Barb nodded and checking it, was delighted to find tuna noodle and served it up. “Tastes like Nancy’s mom made it,” she said surprised at just how similar it was with the same crunchy fried onion bits.<br/>
</p><p>Steve nodded. Nancy almost broke into tears and needed a moment when Jonathan told her it was her mom’s. Ultimately, she fell asleep shortly after eating and the boys had to quietly carry her to bed. Jonathan himself had just about fallen asleep staring at the shiny new phone he pulled out as if he could make Joyce call by staring at it. He didn’t fight Steve when he had to half drag the other boy to bed before midnight. With everyone’s emotions running high, sitting alone in the kitchen Steve had wished his parents weren’t gone like they were for most of the year. He could use his mother too, even if she’d be lousy after handing the work of caring for him off to nannies all his life. Now he couldn’t even talk to Tommy or…<br/>
</p><p>Glancing at Barb, he began idly, “You know…”<br/>
</p><p>Barb finished the casserole and together they polished off another bag of chips and the box of hostess cakes. By the end of it, Steve knew about Nancy’s ridiculous crush on Fred the quarterback (“He’s disgusting, have you seen his skidmarks?” “Ew, Steeeve!”) from middle school. In turn, he had told her about the first time he and Tommy broke into his father’s liquor cabinet in freshman year (“All those drinks and he never noticed.” “That’s what happens when you’ve got more money than sense.” Steve made an amused sound in agreement).<br/>
</p><p>Finally, Barb sighed. “Nancy doing ok?”<br/>
</p><p>“It’s been hard on her. I-I didn’t think this would happen to her.”<br/>
</p><p>Barb laughed drily, “None of us expected a blood-sniffing monster that can walk through walls to be hunting us Steve.”<br/>
</p><p>But he just shook his head. “I just wanted to have some fun. Not get anyone really hurt. And Nancy. I thought, here’s a pretty cool chick. Smart, put together, a bit stuck up but not a total bitch like Laurie was.”<br/>
</p><p>“Ugh.” Barb pulled a face “Nobody’s more of a bitch than Laurie was.”<br/>
</p><p>“Right? Carol was almost offended she had competition that year.” The joke startled a laugh out of Barb, but then she caught sight of Steve’s face frozen in that half grin. </p><p>“Carol…”<br/>
</p><p>“Steve…”<br/>
</p><p>He buried his face in his hands. “I can’t. I can’t. I just…can’t.” Barb pulled closer and gingerly rested a hand on his shoulder, patting him awkwardly across the table. “I keep dreaming of her. What that thing did. Could have…did to her.” He looked up, eye tearful again. “I don’t want to see that. She didn’t deserve that Barb. Nobody does. That…that thing.”<br/>
</p><p>Barb wasn’t sure what to say, still having not reconciled her own experiences with Carol. Finally, she gave his shoulder a firm squeeze and said, “Maybe Laurie did.”<br/>
</p><p>It startled a snort out of Steve as he squeezed his eyes shut, and then clasped his hand around her wrist, squeezing it like a lifeline. And she was…okay with that as she reversed her hand to clasp his wrist back. There was nothing remotely romantic out of the gesture, not that she could see or was seeking it out of Steve. It was just them in Jonathan’s kitchen with full stomachs after the worst three days of their lives. Still alive. That meant something, that they weren’t dead and for now, Barb was happy to stay with Steve like this for a bit and take comfort in his company.<br/>
</p><p>At last, Barb’s aching body protested and she got up. “You going to get some sleep Steve? You could probably use it.”<br/>
</p><p>“Yeah. I guess.” He rubbed his eyes. When he finished, he realized, Barb was waiting for him. “You go on ahead.”<br/>
</p><p>“Yeah…uhm. Take care of Nancy for me ok?” Barb wasn’t about to forget everything that transpired between them just like that after one amusing meal together, but one thing she learned to count on after the last two days was Steve’s need to act and his protective streak.<br/>
</p><p>“Of course,” Steve readily answered, proving her right. “I owe you one. Just.” He fidgeted. “If I lose my temper again, just…don’t leave me behind?” his voice trailed off softly as he asked.<br/>
</p><p>Intrigued despite herself, Barb nodded. “If you do the same,” she told him warmly.<br/>
</p><p>He grinned at her and Barb went back to bed. Head hitting the pillows, she was dead to the world again, instantly. </p><p> </p><p>The ringing of a phone pierced cloudy thoughts. Barb woke and was later grateful it wasn’t because of the man-with-no-face. Instead the ringing cut off, and was shortly replaced by Steve calling for Jonathan. When she emerged from Joyce’s room, the other doors in the hall opened to reveal Jonathan and Nancy, similarly sleep-tussled. Steve’s bleary visage poked out of the pre-dawn kitchen, receiver in hand. “It’s your mom.”<br/>
</p><p>While the other boy took the call, Barb poked Steve. “Did you get any sleep?”<br/>
</p><p>“Some.” Steve managed to look surprisingly sheepish. “I conked out at the table.”<br/>
</p><p>“Steve, you should’ve slept in a proper bed.” Nancy mumbled, clearly not fully coherent yet.<br/>
</p><p>He gave her a fragile smile. “Didn’t want to interrupt your beauty sleep,” he cooed despite the bags under his eyes. Barb rolled her eyes at the cutesy display as he patted and tucked Nancy's bangs out of the way and went to take a shower.<br/>
</p><p>Joyce had given her blessing to use anything in her room, but Barb ended up having to steal another shirt and loose jeans from Jonathan. “Shit,” she whispered, getting out of the shower and realizing she hadn’t changed her bra in two days. Over the giddy tingle of getting away from her parent’s expectations to be herself here freely, she realized that monster hunting was disgusting in worse ways than she had expected. Gathering up Nancy’s old clothes too, she snuck over to the laundry room to run a wash. Peeking into the living room, Jonathan was still preoccupied on the phone, writing stuff down as Steve lay motionless on the couch.<br/>
</p><p>The mundanity of laundry in a moment like this helped settle Barb, and she gathered up Steve’s clothes from the other day. Then she frowned at the musk and weird debris from the other world. She found a bin and shook out his clothes over that, and all their old clothes from the night they went into the woods. She sifted out the branches, and leaves and bits of forest growth until it was mostly dust and fluff and puzzled over it. It didn’t look seem different from an ordinary dusty mess. Maybe if she had some way to analyze it they could find some weakness for this man-with-no-face thing.<br/>
</p><p>Barb sighed and set the bin aside, tucking it out of the way under a table for later. In the end, she was just a high schooler and it wasn’t like she was the brains between her and Nancy when it came to chem.<br/>
</p><p>Dressed in clothes that fit her once more felt like a blessing. She brought out Steve and Nancy’s clothes and found them on the couch, Steve’s head resting on Nancy’s lap as he kept sleeping. Nothing came from the kitchen other than the occasionally sizzling sound and a ding of a toaster going off as Jonathan put breakfast together. It seemed they were all savoring a rare moment of calm and peace. Nancy gave her a quiet smile as Barb placed their clothes on the table with a pat.<br/>
</p><p>“Barb,” Nancy whispered softly. “I…” she looked down at Steve. “I don’t think he’s sleeping properly.”<br/>
</p><p>Barb took a seat at the foot of the couch. “He's not. He woke up at six yesterday and…he cried about Carol for an hour before he fell asleep and the chief came barging in. And last night, he was still up when I came to get food. Not to mention the fact that he just fell asleep out here.”<br/>
</p><p>Steve’s coif was on its last legs as Nancy stroked his head gently. Yesterday he had tried valiantly with Joyce’s limited, untouched-for-years product. It hadn’t held through the night and, between it and the yellow purpling remnants of his black eye, it made for an odd sight to see “the Hair Harrington” this far from picture perfect. Nancy stared down at him lost in sleep. “He’s still really broken up about Carol”<br/>
</p><p>After a moment, Barb found herself unable to resist asking, “Jealous?”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy gave her a look, but not of anger. It was more amusement that Barb had gone there that quickly faded back to troubled concern. “Not really, I’m worried. Steve’s not handling this well. And that night. In the woods. When he ran at the monster?”<br/>
</p><p>As she wondered how to respond, Barb noticed the sounds of rattling cooking ware in the other room had stopped under the sizzling of the stove. Deciding that yesterday wasn’t something Steve had asked in confidence, she went ahead and told Nancy. “He knows he was an idiot about that. He asked me to watch his back.” After a moment, she added, “I asked him to watch mine.”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy made a relieved sound, some of the tension leaving her shoulders. “Steve really is a good person isn’t he?” Nancy asked, eyes fond.<br/>
</p><p>After two days and two nights with Steve and Nancy running from the man-with-no-face, Barb she sat back and watched the sun rise through the hole in the wall. “I think I'll give him a chance.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Edit March 22, 2021 to change "Sophie" to "Laurie" to match one of Steve's old girlfriends off the wiki's minor characters</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Signs of the Beast</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Dawn of November 12th</b><br/>
</p><p>There was no easy way for Jonathan to break this to them. “They’ve got another kid.”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy leaned in, a big frown over her toast. “Who does?”<br/>
</p><p>“The lab.”<br/>
</p><p>“They couldn’t find Will?” Barb asked sadly who had hoped against hope.<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan didn’t trust his voice to answer that, shaking his head instead.<br/>
</p><p>“So what’s so special about this kid?” Steve yawned, despite his cat naps on the couch. He looked tired, but kept up with them even as he picked at his breakfast listlessly.<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan frowned as he looked at the notes he made of what his mother shared. “Anyone ever seen ‘Carrie?’”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy winced as Barb sighed. Steve just looked at Jonathan blankly. “Who?”<br/>
</p><p>“The movie?” Nancy asked, puzzled. She and Barb had been too young to watch it when it came out, but managed to sneak it into their rentals for a sleepover at Barb’s in the last year of middle school. They only got about two thirds of the way before Barb turned it off and they sat huddled in bed together for the rest of that sleepless night.<br/>
</p><p>“Oh.” Steve was sheepish, but Nancy found it rather adorable seeing a less than smooth side of her boyfriend. “Don’t watch too many movies. What’s it about?”<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan sighed. “So, the lady they went to see apparently was part of experiments for, quote, “supernatural abilities.” Her baby was taken away, according to her, to a secret government lab. No one believed her.”<br/>
</p><p>“Until now,” Nancy added breathlessly. “That fucking lab. What is going on there?”<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan sighed. “Hopper said there was a lead in Benny Hammond’s ‘suicide’ when he called in about a missing kid. Said he thought it was Will, but in the report Benny said he had a bald-shaved skinny kid in a hospital gown.”<br/>
</p><p>“That sounds like some mad scientist stuff right there,” Barb took off her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Weird stuff. Shit. Weird shit.”<br/>
</p><p>“Yeah,” Jonathan agreed readily. “But if she has powers, can you imagine if she’s on our side?”<br/>
</p><p>“Could make killing that monster a whole lot easier.” Nancy, fiddled with her half eaten toast, imagining a kid frying the monster with laser vision like one of Mike’s comics. It was a lovely thought. Then she returned to reality. Nancy took a deep breath to say the bit she dreaded to. “Speaking of, we need to go back to Steve’s place.”<br/>
</p><p>That straightened Steve’s spine. “No,” he declared as the others gave her an inquisitive look.<br/>
</p><p>“Why?” Jonathan prompted her.<br/>
</p><p>“Hello? Do we know this place is any safer? We also left all the guns there.”<br/>
</p><p>Barb’s eyes went wide. “Shit.” Suddenly, the phone rang again.<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan picked it up without hesitation. “Yeah mom?” He made a face, and the others watched fascinated as his eyes went comically wide. “Yes officer, how can I help you?”</p><p> </p><p>“Shit!” Barb hit the brakes. The Cabriolet jerked to a stop as they stared at the police tape cordoning Steve’s cul-de-sac.<br/>
</p><p>Steve himself, sitting in the front with her, was white as he held his hands up to his mouth. “Someone must have called the police last night,” he whispered again, faintly this time instead of panicked like the first half-dozen times he said that on the road.<br/>
</p><p>“Is there anyone there now?” Nancy asked shifting from her seat in the back for a better look.<br/>
</p>
<p>Barb inched the Cabriolet forward slowly until they were sure no one was there. No movement came from the house.<br/>
</p><p>“Let’s go around the back,” Steve muttered. “We can go through the wo –“<br/>
</p><p>He clammed up almost as soon as he said it as Nancy sucked her breath in and Barb shook her head. “Vetoed.” said Jonathan, his soft voice drifted out from the back.<br/>
</p>
<p>“Right, park over there and lets go.” Steve instructed, pointing to the curb. They quickly filed out and Steve just stared at the ruins of his front door. The door frame was also covered in that hideously yellow police tape.<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan sighed. “At least they didn’t tow my car yet.”<br/>
</p><p>“It’s not like we can just drive off with it though.” Nancy pointed out, equally as dispirited. Barb was already on the move, opening the side gate and going around to the back.<br/>
</p><p>With the others running to catch up, all four teens stopped to stare at Steve’s backyard. The pool continued to lap peacefully at its edges as they took in the shattered and mangled frame of the sliding door that once opened up to the back.<br/>
</p><p>“How the fuck do I explain this to the police? My dad?” Steve pulled at his hair. “The police?<br/>
</p><p>“Let’s just leave it to Hopper.” Jonathan told him. “They said they were on the road back,” he reminded the other boy.<br/>
</p>
<p>Steve’s shoulder slumped, “Yeah.”<br/>
</p><p>“Mind your step,” Barb cautioned. Nancy was already picking her way into the house around the broken glass with skips and jumps.<br/>
</p><p>Inside, Nancy halted staring at the muddy imprint of the man-with-no face’s footprint in the carpet. “The police saw this?”<br/>
</p><p>“Hopper’s going to have his work cut out for this one.” Barb sighed. The girls continued down the hall and winced at the mess the police had found in Steve’s home.<br/>
</p><p>“There’s even blood from where Tommy beat up…” Nancy trailed off with a sigh.<br/>
</p><p>Going to the tables, and finding the pouches and boxes, Barb pointed out, “At least they left all the gear.”<br/>
</p><p>“Even the bear trap,” Nancy called out with an odd note of amusement as she picked it up from where she shoved it under the dining table. “We’re in so much trouble. Our parents are flipping the fuck out, I know it.”<br/>
</p><p>“Let them,” Barb had already strapped the rifle back on. Looking around, she picked up the pistol she dropped yesterday and fit it in a holster Steve had thrown into his purchases. It was a snug fit that she carefully strapped on her waist.<br/>
</p><p>Steve went by them upstairs as Jonathan picked up the bats and helped the girls pile things in boxes again. By the time Steve came back down to join them with a full backpack, they organized most of the things and were ready to move. Things seemed to be going well for a quiet exit until Jonathan stumbled and tripped in the living room.<br/>
</p><p>“Shit!” the box of ammo he had been carrying slammed on the ground and caught him but for one hand that went into the glass.<br/>
</p><p>“Jonathan!” Nancy cried.<br/>
</p><p>Steve was pulling him to his feet in an instant, but as he inspected the other boy's hand, red leaked. "Shit." Barb jumped and ran over as the lights turned on by themselves. Then off, and then back on again, which could only mean one thing. “Go,” he told the other boy with an urgent, small shove. His own hands free but for a bat, he picked up the box and ditched the other nail bat Jonathan dropped. The girls had scrambled ahead of them to the car so Jonathan winced, picking out a chunk of glass from his palm as he ran. Once Nancy threw her box in the trunk, she helped the hurt boy into the car.<br/>
</p><p>Picking up the rear, Steve felt an awful compulsion to check as he ran towards the curb. Looking back, Steve saw the pool churn and swallowed, his throat dry. His first attempt to call out came out a wordless rasp, but on the second attempt he managed to warn them. “It’s coming.” A distant part of him hoped that this thing had only gone on the hunt at night. So much for that idea.<br/>
</p><p>Barb slammed the trunk shut and dove for the driver’s door. She almost hit Steve as she clambered across the passenger seat to open the door for him, but he just nodded and slipped in, pulling the door shut, even as the gear shift poked into his side painfully. As the engine started with a purr, they heard that damn sound again.<br/>
</p><p>“Nope.” Barb said, hitting the gas and pulling out with a jerk. In the daylight the monster glistened as it stepped up to the road. Its lanky form as tall and unnaturally thin as they remembered from the day before, dripping pool water. Barb spun the car in the first u-turn of her life as she gunned it for the exit of the cul-de-sac. Unfortunately, that took them right by the man-with-no-face again and to the passengers’ horror, this time they got an eyeful of the fangs on the thing they missed in the dark as its fleshy face opened again.<br/>
</p><p>As Nancy turned to stare more, she realized something was different from the last time. “It’s coming after us!” The monster was indeed in pursuit on all fours, less running as much as lunging and jumping with leaps that bounded whole car lengths.<br/>
</p><p>“Shit!” Barb hit the gas again as her beat-up car whined to keep up with the full load of teens and hunting gear. In her side mirror she caught a glimpse of the flowery head coming down from above before the car pulled just ahead again.<br/>
</p><p>“Give me a gun!” Nancy ordered Steve who began to rummage in the box he held.<br/>
</p><p>“It’s just ammo!”<br/>
</p><p>“Hip holster,” Barb yelped, eyes bouncing between the road and keeping the thing in the mirror. She shifted just enough to give Steve access as he gingerly pulled the pistol out. Nancy had rolled down the window enough to poke her head out and called out “Steve!” as the next lunge brought the thing close enough to swipe at the back of the car.<br/>
</p><p>The Carbiolet shook with a crunch of shattering plastic and Nancy turned back to snatch the gun and cock it. “It took out a backlight!”<br/>
</p><p>“Shit” Jonathan whispered, “Damn it, why did I fall?” He couldn’t help but whine over the tension in the car as he held his bleeding hand.<br/>
</p><p>“Blame the monster, not yourself,” Barb cried at him, one eye on the rearview mirror. She abruptly spun the wheel and the car jerked to the right. Nancy blinked as the monster slammed into what was the Cabriolet’s path until just a moment ago. Fighting to get her bearings, she raised the pistol and she stuck her arm out the window. A quick tattoo of shots rang out. Though the beast didn’t seem any more hurt than the other times, the shots gave it pause long enough for Barb to take the car into a turn in the woods and leave the thing out of sight behind a hill on the curb.<br/>
</p><p>After a few more moments of cruising forward, Steve licked his lips. “Is it-is it gone?”<br/>
</p><p>That awful roar pierced the air again, and then died as Barb kept her foot on the pedal and tore through the woods. Moments ticked by and with each one kids let themselves relax enough to sit down properly.<br/>
</p><p>“See, Barb I told you were a badass,” Steve chucked her on the shoulder gently. “Car chase like in all those action movies.”<br/>
</p><p>“I would’ve preferred an actual car, not that thing.” At last, Barb let up on the gas a little. She gave Steve an adrenaline-ragged smile. “Thanks all the same though.”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy fell back into her seat with a relieved sigh. “You’re good with a gun,” Jonathan told her quietly. “Thanks for saving our asses.”<br/>
</p><p>She turned to give him a warm smile. “Anytime.” Her eyes fell on the sluggishly bleeding cut on his hand. “Here, let me help you with that,” she dug out the first aid kit they brought along from under the seat and opened it up.<br/>
</p><p>In all, the four of them managed to make it back to the Byers residence without further incident. Still, none of them were prepared for what they’d find there.<br/>
 </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Officer in Pursuit</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Noon of November 12th</b>
</p><p>The Cabriolet rolled to a gentle halt as Barb took her foot off the pedal. After moment, she asked in the stunned silence, “So uh…”<br/>
</p><p>After a moment, Steve muttered, “we should probably get out.”<br/>
</p><p>Joyce was already picking her way down the driveway to them.<br/>
</p><p>“Kids! You look – Jonathan, what happened to your hand?” Joyce immediately pulled her oldest son into a fierce hug.<br/>
</p><p>“It’s a long story mom,” he whispered as he buried his face in her hair.<br/>
</p><p>“Can we save it to tell everyone at once?” Nancy asked nervously at the crowd outside the Byers house.<br/>
</p><p>Joyce glanced back and sighed as Hopper argued with a pair of officers and a shorter, stocky woman. “Might as well.”</p><p> </p><p>Hopper scowled at Joyce as she walked Jonathan to the couch. “This is too much of a risk,” he tried to keep his voice low.<br/>
</p><p>“We need every hand we can get Hopper, trust me on this.” Joyce said. In her mind, she could still see Barb stepping out of cover to bring Steve back with them. “The kids are reliable and if we cut them out, they’ll act on their own and get into trouble. What do you think your coworkers will do?”<br/>
</p><p>“They won’t be doing anything if I get my way.”<br/>
</p><p>“Do that and you’ll be getting cold coffee for the rest of your career,” Flo warned as she drifted past them towards the kitchen, pulling a furled half-full bag of coffee beans out of her bag.<br/>
</p><p>“Wait, you’re doing this with Joyce Byers, but not us?” Powell closed the distance between them quickly. He crossed his arms, trying, and failing, to keep his voice even. Joyce backed away, shaking her head, with hands up in the air.<br/>
</p><p>“She’s not even on the force Hop.” Thankfully, Callahan just sounded offended than genuinely mad as he stared at the hole in the wall.<br/>
</p>
<p>Powell steepled his fingers to his forehead. “I spent hours putting those files together for you. At least let me know what’s going on with the craziness this week.”<br/>
</p><p>“There’ve been more five missing persons reports since Wednesday, Hop.” Flo’s voice called out from the kitchen. “We going to even find their bodies at this point?”<br/>
</p><p>“Shit.” Hopper growled. “More?”<br/>
</p><p>Powell shoved a fresh Manila folder with the paperwork for those cases at Hopper and clapped his back. “Flo, did I see you bring doughnuts?”<br/>
</p><p>“Sprinkles. On the table,” she told him.<br/>
</p><p>“I hate sprinkles,” Hopper whispered low as he reviewed the newest reports.<br/>
</p><p>Callahan tore his eyes away from the familiar looking boxes of hunting gear the teens were dragging in with a curious glint in his eye. Then he patted Hopper’s shoulder sweetly. “We know,” he grinned as he followed Powell.<br/>
</p><p>The teens watched this unfold with amusement but for Jonathan.<br/>
</p><p>“Think we can trust them?” Jonathan asked softly.<br/>
</p><p>Barb arched her brow. “We just walked in with a hunting rifle, a bear trap, and your hand bandaged and they haven’t interrogated us, yet.”<br/>
</p><p>“Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt,” Nancy took the chance to reload Barb’s handgun. She fumbled and nearly dropped a bullet with a curse.<br/>
</p><p>“I’m hoping they’ll give us gun tips.” Barb grinned at her friend.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy handed the pistol back to her friend. “That’d be cool,” she admitted as the boys exchanged nervous looks.</p><p> </p><p>After Joyce redressed Jonathan’s hand with a fresh bandage, the others arranged themselves on the couch and the police officers emerged from the kitchen with fresh mugs of coffee. Flo assured them that she would hear them just fine as she bustled around the kitchen cleaning up after the kids, but not before fixing Hopper with a severe look and demanding him to explain himself.<br/>
</p><p>Since they hadn’t actually heard the details, the teens watched Hopper with new respect as he talked about tracking down the state trooper who “found” Will’s body, interrogating him, then breaking into the morgue and then the lab before getting caught.<br/>
</p><p>Callahan screwed up his nose with a look of shock, but Powell tapped his finger on his emptied mug as he thought. “I knew things were getting too convenient,” the black man sighed aloud at last.<br/>
</p><p>“Yeah tell me about it,” Hopper complained as he took a draught of his lukewarm coffee and made a face.<br/>
</p><p>Powell nodded and threw his hands up, “Sure, why not. Something else our friendly state troopers did. They told me they found Carol Perkin’s car up near I-69.”<br/>
</p><p>“What?” Steve surged to his feet in shock, rage written all over his face.<br/>
</p><p>To his credit Powell just raised his brows at Steve as Nancy and Barb pulled him back into his seat.<br/>
</p><p>“I was being sarcastic Powell,” Hopper muttered into his coffee.<br/>
</p><p>The dark-skinned officer smoothly continued. “The Hagan kid said that was impossible when we let him out of lockup. State troopers said they’d go ahead and file the missing persons report for us and start circulating it even though they hadn’t even checked out with you on it Hop.” He gave them all a mild stare. “Real kind of them to go ahead and do the work for us, ain’t it?”<br/>
</p><p>Callahan waited out Hopper’s string of curses, then cut in before he could go any longer, “So what did Powell’s info get ya chief?”<br/>
</p><p>Between Joyce and Hopper, they quickly filled them in on what they suspected was going on in the lab. When Benny’s death came up, Flo finally emerged from the kitchen, the frown on her face deepening as they went on.<br/>
</p><p>“Well that tracks don’t it?” Powell shook his head. “Benny’s ain’t far from that pipe we found leading to that lab.”<br/>
</p><p>Hopper sighed, sinking his head and resting it on his arms. “I forgot about that.”<br/>
</p><p>“So that’s another missing kid we don’t even know the name of?” Callahan clarified miserably. “Just add it to the pile.”<br/>
</p><p>Powell caught the uneasy looks the kids and snapped his fingers. “Alright, spill. You let these kids on this Hop. What do they know, and why’d we find all this hunting shit and guns at Harrington’s house? Why was the front and back door completely destroyed?”<br/>
</p><p>Hopper’s head shot up and Joyce raised her head quickly. “Harrington?” the older man rumbled.<br/>
</p><p>Asked so directly, the teens shifted nervously and looked at each other with urging looks. “Kids,” Joyce asked severely, all maternal force in play. “What happened while we were gone?”<br/>
</p><p>“Uh…” Nancy began and didn’t quite know where to start.<br/>
</p><p>“Well,” Barb admitted with false cheer, “we didn’t go into the woods.” Joyce brought a hand to her head and just sighed.</p><p> </p><p>Callahan and Powell protested the idea of a monster being the things that abducted Will and Carol. They argued about fantasies, drugged delusions, and teen hooligans up until Flo returned from the kitchen with the picture of the man-with-no-face they left in it and tossed it on the coffee table. “This our perp, chief?”<br/>
</p><p>The two officers bent over the pic as Joyce answered “Yes” with such conviction Flo crossed herself and whispered, “Lord have mercy.”<br/>
</p><p>“This thing, tore a door in half all the way across the lawn?” Callahan whispered as he tried to process all this new information.<br/>
</p><p>Powell seemed to be coming around. “Would explain how the back door got all bent out of shape,” his voice oddly dull.<br/>
</p><p>“But…” Callahan sputtered.<br/>
</p><p>“And remember that footprint?”<br/>
</p><p>Hopper had turned an interesting plum shade and made squawking sounds before he could manage words. “This thing can tear metal and wood apart and you kids went after it by yourselves with no shooting experience? Are you INSANE?” He exploded. “You’re teenagers! Not fucking heroes! What the hell makes you think you can take this on?”<br/>
</p><p>“If we survived three times I think we’re pretty good,” Barb spat out waspishly, getting vicious instead of mousy.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy, tight-lipped, found Barb’s hand and they clasped tight, steeling herself against Hopper. “It’s not like you believed us when we told you two days ago. What did you expect us to? Sit around for it to kill more people?”<br/>
</p><p>“Well, it seems like it did anyways.” Powell informed her. He was stern, but not unkind. “But you have to admit how crazy it sounds.”<br/>
</p><p>“Kid from a lab with special powers level of crazy?” Jonathan asked sullenly even as Steve snapped, “It took Carol.”<br/>
</p><p>Between the two of them, Powell relented with a bow of his head. “Point.”<br/>
</p><p>Around her own spluttering Joyce finally gathered herself enough to ask, “Hold on a moment, <i>three</i> times?”<br/>
</p><p>“Uh…” The teenagers suddenly backed off guiltily as Joyce rose to her full height, towering over them with authority far more potent than the officers. “There was the woods and Steve’s house,” she counted with a demanding glare.<br/>
</p><p>“We might have had a bit of a run-in trying to get this stuff back,” Steve admitted in a rush, “But Barb and Nancy were badass and it only took out the backlight of the car!”<br/>
</p><p>“Oh. OHHH!” Joyce turned in place clutching at her heart as she seemed to look for relief from the walls closing in on her as Jonathan reached towards her.<br/>
</p><p>“Mom, we’re ok now.”<br/>
</p><p>“Jonathan, honey, I love you, but give me a moment before I have an aneurysm because my last son thought he could take on this lab monster with a <i>pistol</i>!”<br/>
</p><p>Flo put a glass of water in the other woman’s hand and patted her hand comfortingly. “Deep breaths, dear. Deep breaths.”<br/>
</p><p>“They were accidents!” Nancy protested. “We weren’t even trying to find this thing, but it’s attracted to blood!”<br/>
</p><p>In the ringing silence, all that could be heard was Joyce’s heavy breathing in between desperate gulps of her glass. “Honey,” Flo was unnaturally still, “explain.”<br/>
</p><p>Between the four of them, they managed to explain the fight with Tommy, and Jonathan getting cut by the glass, and how the monster showed up each time because of the blood. The connection with the man in the other world cutting his glove was not something they were ready to jump into quite yet.<br/>
</p><p>“I think, it’s getting faster at it,” Steve pointed out. The other teens fell into silence as he reminded them, “The first night at the party, we completely missed it even though Barb was out at the pool for a while. It only took a few minutes after Tommy punched me out for it to break down the back door. This morning, it wasn’t even a minute.” Nancy made a pained sound. She hadn’t even put that together.<br/>
</p><p>“Lord it’s definitely been taking those people.” Flo whispered in the shocked hush.<br/>
</p><p>“Eating them,” Joyce said, voice harsh. “And I need to find Will before he’s next.” No one protested or dared to question Will’s fate the way she sounded.<br/>
</p><p>“Mom,” Jonathan asked, “Did you tell Hopper about what we found in the woods?”<br/>
</p><p>Hopper sighed. “I didn’t want to believe it, but I guess I can’t now can I?”<br/>
</p><p>“In the woods? Where Will Byers vanished?” Callahan pushed his glasses up his nose. After they explained about the other world, Nancy explained about the lab punching a hole in the other world, even answering their questions in a way it seemed the police officers all understood. Callahan finally whistled. “Now I wish I hadn’t asked.” He looked at Nancy curiously, “Where did you even hear that portal tightrope shit little lady?”<br/>
</p><p>“Oh it was from Mr. Clark, our old middle school science teacher talking to my…” Nancy trailed off.<br/>
</p><p>“Nance?” Steve prodded as her eyes widened.<br/>
</p><p>She looked to Jonathan, “Why would Mike and his friends be asking about a portal to another dimension?”<br/>
</p><p>“That’s uhm. Uh, what??” Jonathan was bewildered by this new line of questioning.<br/>
</p><p>“No, Jonathan don’t you remember, they asked if they could get to the other side!” it was a hunch, but the coincidence and the timing were just too much. Nancy’s eyes widened. “They know Will is in that other world, but how?”<br/>
</p><p>“Honey what’s your brother’s name?” Flo asked routinely.<br/>
</p><p>“Mike. Michael Wheeler.”<br/>
</p><p>Oddly enough that set Flo off. “Mike Wheeler… Wait, Callahan!”<br/>
</p><p>“Oh shit,” Callahan jumped in his seat. “Before we came.., didn’t he…?.”<br/>
</p><p>Flo nodded, “That kid with the broken arm. He said your brother, Mike, and his friends and a girl attacked them.”<br/>
</p><p>Callahan then added, “Said she broke his arm without touching him and, uhm, made him piss his pants?”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy puzzled over that. “Mike...doesn’t have any friends who are girls. He’s a twelve year old nerd.”<br/>
</p><p>Flo looked at the folder with Powell’s research. “Does he have any new friends who ran away from a lab?”<br/>
</p><p>“Oh my god,” Barb whispered as clarity struck everyone at once.<br/>
</p><p>At that moment, Powell’s radio went off in the ringing silence. He raised a hand, “Deputy Chief Powell,”<br/>
</p><p><i>“Powell, you seen the chief?”</i> the tinny voice asked. Powell, frowned, but handed the radio over dutifully.<br/>
</p><p>“Hopper here,” the chief answered, “What’s up?”<br/>
</p><p><i>“Some old lady on Piney Wood Lane reporting a disturbance.”</i><br/>
</p><p>“Piney Wood Lane, isn’t that…?,” Barb repeated, straightening up with a look at Nancy.<br/>
</p><p>The other girl was grim, “That’s right near my place.”<br/>
</p><p>“What’s the disturbance?” Hopper growled into the radio.<br/>
</p><p><i>“Said she was out gardening when four kids on bikes went by and car flipped right over their heads. Nearly caused a pile up. Funny thing, they were all maintenance vans. A whole swarm of them. Chasing kids. Sounds crazy doesn’t it?”</i><br/>
</p><p>“Not if it’s a lab trying to stay undercover,” Jonathan rose and rushed out of the room.<br/>
</p><p><i>“Gets better, none of them have license numbers, not even the one that flipped here.”</i><br/>
</p><p>“Shit.” Hopper hit the radio again. “You know where the kids went?”<br/>
</p><p><i>“Nope everyone’s vanished. Except for the upside-down car, I would’ve written it off.”</i><br/>
</p><p>“File a report and get a move on.”<br/>
</p><p>The other voice on the radio sighed, <i>“Come on chief, give me a break. I had to write my own cousin’s missing person report this morning and clean up after her dog.”</i> The voice on the other line cracked. <i>“Like a bear ripped it apart.”</i><br/>
</p><p>Everyone hissed in the dark truth hidden in at that casual comment.<br/>
</p><p>“Take the day off,” Hopper said numbly and threw the radio back to Powell.<br/>
</p><p>“Shit!” Nancy muttered before burying her face in Barb’s shoulder.<br/>
</p><p>“We need to find those kids asap,” Hopper ordered as the officers snapped to attention. “Callahan, you check out the middle school, Powell –“<br/>
</p><p>Then Jonathan ran back into the room. In his hand was a walkie talkie. “Mike, Dustin, Lucas,” he barked into it, “It’s Jonathan, Will’s brother. We know you’re looking for Will, we know you’re with someone from that lab.”<br/>
</p><p>“Mike?” Nancy held out her hands and Jonathan handed it over without thinking. “Mike, are you there? Mike?” After a moment she repeated, “Mike, it’s me, Nancy. Mike, are you there? Answer. Mike, we need you to answer.” Barb put a hand on her shoulder and Nancy closed her eyes, trying again. “This is an emergency, Mike. Do you copy? Mike, do you copy?” The gnawing anxiety in her stomach grew. “We need to know that you’re there, Mike.”<br/>
</p><p>When Hopper held out his hand, she also surrendered the walkie without hesitation. “Listen, kid, this is the chief. If you’re there, pick up. We know you’re in trouble and we know about the girl.” Powell made way for Hopper to pace with the walkie. “We can protect you, we can help you, but you gotta pick up. Are you there? Do you copy? Over.” After another long stretch of silence he sighed and nodded at Jonathan. “Good idea anyways, kid. Powell, we’re going to –“<br/>
</p><p><i>“Yeah, I copy.”</i> The walkie buzzed in his hand.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I feel like this chapter is the biggest departure I’m making with my fanon of Stranger Things. At first I imagined Hawkins Police would be a bit overwhelmed with the mysterious disappearance around town to bother much with this new account of what happens at Steve's. Especially with the front door in pieces on the lawn and no one around. I thought, ‘Let’s count the gang lucky and let them on their way.’ Then I remembered that I really, really like Powell, Callahan, and Flo a lot for some reason. The way I wrote this out, I thought it wouldn’t make sense for some of the officers not to get wind of “strange things” so…here we are. :3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. The 1983 Battle at The Junkyard</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Content warning</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Afternoon of November 12th</b>
</p><p>“How the hell did they know?” Hopper muttered.<br/>
</p><p>As they crested the hill, through the woods they could see sharply dressed men who could only be federal agents with the lab.<br/>
</p><p>“Shit, I don’t like this Chief.” Powell, was already checking his holster and got out his blackjack with practiced smoothness.<br/>
</p><p>“Try not to kill them if you can help it.” Hopper muttered.<br/>
</p><p>“That’s felony assault, ain’t it?” Callahan drawled. He was still reluctant, but he wasn’t about to let Hopper and Powell go into this alone.<br/>
</p><p>“Shut up Callahan,” Powell was not about to get into one of Callahan’s stints where he held his technical legal knowledge over their heads.<br/>
</p><p>To the quiet Nancy, Hopper instructed, “Stay in the car.”<br/>
</p><p>Her eyes blazed. “He’s my brother.”<br/>
</p><p>“And you’re a minor.” Callahan snorted.<br/>
</p><p>Powell gave Hopper a look, then turned. “You stick to me and don’t make a sound or you will kill us both. You understand?” Nancy nodded eagerly without a word.<br/>
</p><p>To Hopper, he said, “We’ll watch your backs.”<br/>
</p><p>Callahan gave a shrug and got out of the car as Hopper fumed and swallowed his latest string of curses. “Now where could they be?” Hopper wondered and signaled for Callahan to move out.<br/>
</p><p>Splitting apart, Hopper took care not to step on anything as he moved as fast he could. Sneaking through the debris took care, but was manageable the way things were strewn pretty far apart. Hopper trusted Powell to handle Nancy, she was pretty cooperative and seemed pretty sharp, even if lacking in judgement.<br/>
</p><p>“Hey take a look at this.”<br/>
</p><p>That must’ve been an agent, the one who was at the bus. He was getting to his feet as another agent joined him. On the other side of the lot, he saw Callahan grab the third surprised agent and vanish into the brush with a rustle.<br/>
</p><p>Hopper took that as his cue to go grab a half-rusted car hood plate and then bring it down on one agent’s head. The man collapsed without a word as the other, about to enter the bus, turned around.<br/>
</p><p>“What the?”<br/>
</p><p>Hopper punched the surprised agent in the face and then brought his blackjack down on the man’s head with brisk force.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy and Powell popped up from behind a car frame and ran over. The girl pushed the abandoned bus door open. “Mike?”<br/>
</p><p>After a moment, he emerged from under a seat with a surprised “Nancy?”<br/>
</p><p>“Mike!” she dove and embraced him. To her surprise, he didn’t hesitate to hug her back and she felt no small measure of relief as she held her brother safe in her arms.<br/>
</p><p>Then she shoved him to the floor of the bus under her as two shots rang out, close.<br/>
</p><p>“Shit!” one of her brother’s friends, Dustin, yelped as they all hit the ground a moment later.<br/>
</p><p>Another shot rang out and Mike whimpered from beneath her. Turning around she saw Powell crouching meet her eyes firmly signaling for her to stay put. Hopper was nowhere to be seen.<br/>
</p><p>“Oh my god oh my god oh my god,” Dustin whispered over and over until Lucas, crouching next to him, gave the boy a shove and hissed fiercely to keep quiet.<br/>
</p><p>It was the girl beyond them that caught Nancy’s eye as she huddled like the others. There was an unsteady air about her as she watched them, more curious and startled than actually panicked. And she was wearing<br/>
</p><p>“Is that my dress?” Nancy wondered aloud, completely caught off guard. Beneath her, Mike winced and wriggled to get out. “You did find the kid from the lab!”<br/>
</p><p>“Her name’s El!” Mike grunted. The girl seemed to perk up and look straight at Mike as he spoke her name. “And shouldn’t we be quiet?”<br/>
</p><p>“Sorry,” Nancy whispered back to Powell. The other man wasn’t paying attention to them, instead peeking out of the bus, pale, with concern written all over his face. When Hopper’s voice called for him, a pitch higher than it usual was, Powell scrambled out of the bus.<br/>
</p><p>Suddenly a pit in her stomach opened. “Stay low,” she ordered. The hint of steel in it made Mike frown, but nod acquiescence. Nancy shuffled over to the window and stole a look from where she heard Hopper’s voice cry out.<br/>
</p><p>After a few moments, the bushes shook and she saw Hopper and Powell keel out of the greenery struggling, to hold Callahan between them. The younger man was bleeding from both his left shoulder and his right leg. “Shit!” she cried jumping to her feet and running out of the bus.<br/>
</p><p>At the foot of the abandoned vehicle, one of the agents was stirring, groaning as he lifted his head. Without hesitating, Nancy kicked it like a soccer ball and felt relief wash over her mixed with cold dread that she killed the man as he squeaked from the impact and lay still once more.<br/>
</p><p>Mike slammed into her back, then backed off to see what she had done. “Nancy,” Mike whispered in shock.<br/>
</p><p>“Not now Mike!” she ordered as she put a hand to his neck. It took a few moments to find it, but to her relief she found a pulse. Then she riffled through his pockets. Finding a pair of handcuffs, she quickly secured the man’s wrists and then did the same to his still unmoving partner.<br/>
</p><p>About that point, all the kids unloaded from the bus, Lucas shoving a bag at Mike as the rest were all geared up again. At the same time, the police officers rounded the bus with much hissing and groaning from Callahan.<br/>
</p><p>Hopper took a quick look as Nancy stood back up and nodded. “Good work.”<br/>
</p><p>She hesitated. “What about the other one?” her voice small.<br/>
</p><p>“Don’t need it.” Hopper’s voice was flat.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy swallowed. The amount of death she had been running into weighing on her heavily given she saw that third man breathing and moving just a short while ago. She took a deep breath to compose herself. When she finally spoke, it was to some faint and distant pride that her voice didn’t tremble with the nerves and nausea she locked away in the back of her mind. “Right, let’s get out of here. Mike, kids follow me.”<br/>
</p><p>For once, in blessed silence, the kids nodded and complied, wide eyed as they stared at the sweating Callahan. They cleared a path as quickly as they could back to Hopper’s cruiser and loaded up without another word as Powell took the back with Dustin and Lucas. Even Dustin was quiet as they watched the older police officer work quickly to administer tourniquets as Callahan groaned with each shake and shudder of the boxy truck.</p><p> </p><p>The others’ relief at seeing the kids get out of the car was only equaled by their shock and concern as they got Callahan out and moved him to Joyce’s room. With the adults holing up, administering to him, Barb and Nancy sat the kids down and got them food as they pulled their story out of them. Unable to sit still as the kids bickered as much as they explained anything, Steve left for the porch and ran fingers through his hair as he shivered. What he wouldn’t do for a hit of weed, or a drink, or something, anything now!<br/>
</p><p>The creak of the door heralded the arrival of Jonathan, who Steve saluted wearily. “Hey.”<br/>
</p><p>“You ok?” Jonathan watched him a bit warily. “Looked a bit wild when you ran out.”<br/>
</p><p>“Nerves. Anxious.” Steve buried his face in his hands and then pulled them down so that they only covered his mouth and he could look at Jonathan. “Mf mot mooing mef.”<br/>
</p><p>“What?”<br/>
</p><p>Removing his hands Steve sighed, “I’m not doing great.”<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan opened his mouth to crack something wiseass, but took a look at the bags under Steve’s eyes and slowly closed it again. That restless energy was gone now and Steve was just a very tired boy in over his head. Jonathan couldn’t help but wonder if that gleam he saw in Steve’s eyes that matched the one before the beatdown at Hawkins High only a few days ago was just something he imagined. Steve was probably just really pissed. Jonathan himself didn’t know how his brother could stand being those other three boys for long.<br/>
</p><p>“I don’t think any of us are doing great right now,” Jonathan sat down next to Steve on the steps.<br/>
</p><p>“Yeah…at least my old man’s not here to give me shit about it.” Steve muttered with ill-contained heat.<br/>
</p><p>That startled a genuine laugh out of Jonathan. “Ditto,” he bumped shoulders with Steve. “Fuck dads.”<br/>
</p><p>Steve quirked his head enough to give Jonathan a small smile. “Yours is a royal ass though.” Jonathan nodded agreeably and Steve’s smile faded. He cleared his throat and raised a finger to twirl a circle around his fading black eye and then pointed to the faint remnants of the sucker punch Lonnie landed the other day on Joanthan face. “Soooo…he was the reason you came to school beat up as a kid?”<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan sighed, good cheer gone. “Yeah. Sure. That was him. Way to ruin the mood talking about my dad’s physical and verbal abuse Harrington.”<br/>
</p><p>Steve cringed, “Oh, sorry…” he trailed off. Steve apologizing was still not a comfortable enough idea to Jonathan that it convinced him, surprisingly, Steve didn’t seem to mean anything cruel out of it. Was he was asking out of genuine curiosity. Maybe fondness? In an attempt to get close? Once again Jonathan marveled how far things were from their lives one week ago that they’d come to this.<br/>
</p><p>It mollified his attitude enough to grunt, “Yeah. He was always beating me up and calling me names. Sissy. Bitch,” after a moment, he whispered. “Fag.” He glanced at Steve who had a horrified, sad look on his face. Pity. Steve pitied him.<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan looked away with a thick lump in his throat as he coughed, face burning.<br/>
</p><p>After a moment of silence, Steve cleared his throat awkwardly. “Sorry Byers.” Jonathan grunted in acknowledgement. “I always thought my pops was an ass, but yours really takes the cake.” Steve stared into the falling dusk as they caught bits and jumbles of the kids talking over each other, Nancy’s pointed questions, or Barb raising her voice to terrify the kids into cooperation.<br/>
</p><p>“It’s just…” Steve began he sighed heavily and shook his head, missing the faint squeak of screen door opening. Jonathan glanced back to see that bald girl in the ragged yellow dress and jacket creep out onto the porch behind them, quiet as she held her head.<br/>
</p><p>“My pops sucks. That’s what I always thought. Tommy and – “ Steve blinked, “Carol. We all had really sucky dads. Sorry. Like you said, uhm…not as bad as yours. But. Yeah. Pops sucks.”<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan waited, wanting to see where Steve was going with this.<br/>
</p><p>“They’re all rich pricks. You know? Tommy’s is a drunk asshole and Carol’s never paid her any attention unless she was causing trouble.” Steve suddenly chuckled. It sounded more than a bit broken. “Bet she’s laughing her ass off wherever she is now that’s he’s freaking out that she’s dead.”<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan frowned. He didn’t like the Steve he saw that lingered on Carol these days. Old Steve was an ass. New Steve dwelling on Carol was unsettling the way it seemed deeper than just grief. A shame because otherwise, New Steve was pretty cool. “What about your dad?” He prodded.<br/>
</p><p>Steve shrugged, “What about him? He’s just a dick. Always telling me how I’ll amount to nothing. I waste my chances and I waste my time.” Steve’s sudden laughter sounded unhinged. “And he’s right isn’t he? I’m fucking useless. Can’t even save Carol. Can’t even save myself! Had to have Barb and Nancy there to haul my ass out of the fire!” Even as Jonathan tried to protest, Steve covered his face, “God I’m worthless.”<br/>
</p><p>“Steve, your dad’s an asshole.”<br/>
</p><p>Steve laughed and wiped at his eyes. “Thanks Jonathan. You don’t have to lie, you got it so much worse.”<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan gently bumped shoulders with Steve. “It’s not a competition,” he chided softly. “Last I checked, abuse is abuse.”<br/>
</p><p>“What?” Steve gave him a puzzled look.<br/>
</p><p>“Abuse is abuse,” Jonathan repeated. “I don’t have, like a pity monopoly on it cuz my dad’s worse than yours.”<br/>
</p><p>Steve gave him a weird look. After a moment, he wondered, “What does a board game have to do with your dad hurting you?”<br/>
</p><p>“Oh my god Steve,” Jonathan laughed into his hands with relieved fondness. Steve was such a dorky idiot. “Ok, look it’s like this. Just because my dad is a bigger asshole, doesn’t mean it’s ok for yours to be an asshole even if he’s not as bad.”<br/>
</p><p>Steve seemed to take a minute to process that, “But – “<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan just shook his head. “If your dad hurts you, it hurts you. It doesn’t have to be fists. Steve didn’t you hear me earlier? Lonnie called me and my mom all sorts of shit. Told us we were nothing. It’s abuse.” Every time Steve tried to open his mouth to protest, Jonathan cut him off. Jonathan had a couple of years of counseling at school and a therapist Joyce could not afford for long, but kept on as long as she could. He knew what this stuff was. It sounded like Steve never had any of that. “Verbal. Emotional. He’s hurting you Steve. You. Are. Not. Worthless.” By the end of it, Jonathan slung an arm around Steve’s shoulder and clapped him on the back, all friendly-like. “Besides,” he muttered low, “you got that goddamn hair.” Steve grinned at no one in particular once Jonathan admitted that. Then he made an ugly sniffling sound. As he stared at the sunset, Jonathan kept quiet about the dying sun catching in the glimmer at the edge of the other boy’s eyes.<br/>
</p><p>“Papa. Hurts?”<br/>
</p><p>Steve and Jonathan jumped. “Goddamn!” squeaked Steve.<br/>
</p><p>“Forgot you were there,” Jonathan sighed, pulling off Steve. He could feel his face turning red as he realized she had witnessed the entire thing.<br/>
</p><p>The girl shuffled over to Steve and kneeled, heedless of bare skin on the mud smeared board of the porch. “Papa. Hurt?” She reached out, not quite touching Steve’s black eye.<br/>
</p><p>“Naw kid. His dad did that though,” Steve gestured to Jonathan’s eye.<br/>
</p><p>“Steve,” Jonathan sighed, wondering if any of the talk between them had really sunk in.<br/>
</p><p>The girl, El wasn’t it? She didn’t seem to understand completely, giving Steve a small frown. But when she turned to Jonathan, she had a sad look on her eye as she reached out and also stopped just short of touching his faded black eye. “Papas. Hurt. Friends.”<br/>
</p><p>Something about the way she said that, softly, tenderly, made Jonathan smile at her. “Yeah, our dads suck.”<br/>
</p><p>She nodded, that wooden expression not quite changing all this time. “Papa bad.”<br/>
</p><p>Steve frowned, “Your papa hurt you too kid?”<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan blinked. “That’s what you meant?” he sighed as the girl nodded.<br/>
</p><p>She huddled miserably by them as the wind picked up so Steve leaned in closer and draped an arm over her shoulder. “Hey, you’re not alone now. You’ve got friends. And if your papa tries to hurt you, we’ll beat him up.”<br/>
</p><p>“Steve?” Jonathan laughed softly to himself even as he scooted closer. “Did you just make us her guardian angels?”<br/>
</p><p>“Hey,” Steve gave him a wry smile. “Kids with daddy problems.” He pointed between the two of them. “Got to stick together.” The conversation seemed to go over El’s head, but when she looked at Steve questioningly, he just smiled and patted her shoulder companionly. That earned him a small smile back. “Now let’s get her inside before she gets sick and Nancy’s bro completely freaks or something. He seems obsessed with her.”<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan just shook his head as Steve got to his feet and took El’s hand. He followed, amused as he watched the older boy leading her inside as the cold and night fell. Maybe he should be giving Steve some more credit.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Warning for verbal and physical child abuse towards Steve and Jonathan<br/>AND<br/>Warning for homophobia and use of the f word</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. The Dark Place</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Dusk of November 12th</b>
</p><p>“So the monster,” Barb tried again.<br/>
</p><p>“Demogorgan!” Dustin interjected.<br/>
</p><p>She whirled on him, finger in his face. Dustin shut up. None of the adults managed to cow him, not even Hopper. But something about Barb seemed to catch him completely off balance. From the flush on his face, she suspected a boyish crush, but if it meant him shutting it up, she was willing to take advantage of that. “Enough!” Waiting a moment more to be sure that he stayed quiet, she turned back, “That thing can surface wherever it’s smelling blood and is taking people back with it.<br/>
</p><p>“So why did it take Will?” Jonathan’s voice was soft as he came back in to find the Hopper and Powell seated at the table while Nancy handed them neatly written notes on what the kids had told them.<br/>
</p><p>“I don’t know. Maybe he got hurt and the man-with-no-“<br/>
</p><p>“Demo -!” Dustin clapped a hand over his mouth as Barb whirled on him with a trembling finger.<br/>
</p><p>Powell looked troubled. “I can’t wrap my mind around this. Monsters? That’s one thing already. Girls who can move things with their minds? Really?” No one seemed to fault him, but the most he got was a shrug out of Nancy.<br/>
</p><p>Hopper seemed to take it in stride. Out of them all, he seemed to nurse the biggest grudge for the lab being at blame. Barb didn’t think he was wrong, but the monster was just a bit more of a pressing issue at the moment to her. “You want her to show you before you believe it?” he asked his assistant deputy.<br/>
</p><p>Watching her, Powell absently said, “I’d like to give her a warm meal and clothes that actually fit her.” Hopper sighed and threw himself into the notes on what the kids had been up to.<br/>
</p><p>“How’s the other officer?” Steve eventually asked, his concern plain on his face.<br/>
</p><p>“Holding up.” Hopper grumbled.<br/>
</p><p>“He needs to rest now,” Powell added as he rubbed at his face wearily. “I think he’ll be ok. Flo used to be a paramedic and she’s pulled Hopper out of worse.” Hopper nodded agreement even as he tore through Nancy and Barb’s notes.<br/>
</p><p>“So, you boys were tracking the portal,” the chief eyed them warily. He already had one group of kids with a death wish to keep an eye on. Another set about five years younger would just about seal the deal and send him to an early grave.<br/>
</p><p>“Gate,” Dustin corrected eagerly.<br/>
</p><p>Hopper gave the boy an aggrieved look that was cheerfully ignored as Mike added, “That we followed to Hawkins Lab.”<br/>
</p><p>“With our compasses,” Lucas interjected.<br/>
</p><p>“Okay,” Dustin picked up the explanation thrusting a compass in Hopper’s face in his eagerness. “So the gate has a really strong electromagnetic field and that can change the directions of a compass needle.”<br/>
</p><p>“Is this gate underground?” Hopper rumbled.<br/>
</p><p>When Dustin paused, hesitant and unsure, the soft answer came from El. “Yes.”<br/>
</p><p>He turned to her. “Near a large water tank?<br/>
</p><p>“Yes.”<br/>
</p><p>“H-how did you know?” Mike stuttered.<br/>
</p><p>“He’s seen it.” Nancy informed him absently as she organized the rest of the notes she took of the kids stories and handed it to the older man.<br/>
</p><p>“Is there,” Joyce gathered herself, “Is there anyway that you could…that you could reach Will? That you could talk to him in this –“<br/>
</p><p>“The Upside Down?”<br/>
</p><p>Joyce nodded unsteadily. “Down, yeah…”<br/>
</p><p>When Steve spoke, it came out strangled. “And my friend Carol?” Nancy took his hand, but the sad droop of his eyes were only on El.<br/>
</p><p>“Can you find her too?” Nancy asked softly.<br/>
</p><p>El stared at Steve, then Joyce with wide eyes and nodded.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not working,” Jonathan sighed, barely audible. Barb just didn’t trust herself to speak as Steve perched at the edge of his seat near the table with Nancy at his side, across from Joyce as they sat in silent vigil. El sat at the front of their table, a picture of Steve, Tommy, and Carol from Steve’s wallet sat in front of her. She shuddered slightly before she slid up the blindfold she wore and shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she looked miserable as she glanced at Joyce, but seemed to actually tear up when she saw the adrift expression on Steve’s face.<br/>
</p><p>Then the kids launched into another explanation that Barb just couldn’t process at the moment. Instead she turned to Jonathan. “I thought,” she began to the boy, “I thought she’d be this, like, I don’t know…superhero or something.” Jonathan gave her a look to go on. “But, she’s just a kid. A hurt kid who can’t even speak.”<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan bumped her with a shoulder. “You know Barb, we’re just kids too. Don’t sell her short like everyone did us.”<br/>
</p><p>Barb’s eyes fell on El, who was sniffling mightily, but not crying. Something about it reminded of her the way she learned how to not cry and give the bullies the satisfaction and, oh, did the implications of that suck.<br/>
</p><p>At that point, one of the boys, Dustin of course, ran for the phone.</p><p>Barb hadn’t been expecting the kids to have old Mr. Clark on dial, but, somehow, they managed to get instructions for how to build a <i>sensory deprivation tank</i>. Christ. For a moment, she wasn’t sure what was more unnerving – that the kids could name the damn thing like it was a microscope or that El had been shoved in one long enough to go wide eyed and retreat into herself at the mention of it.<br/>
</p><p>Then she remembered herself and went to get El another plate of eggos and put cut strawberries on top. The girl seemed to eat them exclusively over everything else Flo had set out for the group to eat.<br/>
</p><p>Johnathan and his mom went out to the back to fish out a kiddie pool. As they did that, Flo smacked the fretting Hopper’s side. “We don’t need cooking salt. The stuff we use for black ice should be fine.”<br/>
</p><p>“We’re not setting up a girl for a salt bath in the middle of the night in November!”<br/>
</p><p>Flo gave him a very unimpressed look and, while it was always a treat for Powell to see, the others watched with no small fascination as Hopper backed down, cowed. “Right,” Flo sighed, “We can get some heaters. But we still need a place for this…bath…”<br/>
</p><p>“The middle school is deserted this time of night!” Dustin said eagerly.<br/>
</p><p>“Right, let’s try go to the high school.” Flo nodded sagely.<br/>
</p><p>It took a couple beats before that seemed to sink in and Dustin’s smile turned upside down. “Wait, what?”<br/>
</p><p>“Kid,” she reached out and pinched his cheeks none-too-gently. “You’re sweet but you really don’t seem to think things through.”<br/>
</p><p>While Dustin struggled to pull away, Lucas felt safe enough to say, “She has a point.”<br/>
</p><p>“Nuh-uh-uh Lucas,” Dustin scowled around Flo’s iron grip. “What happened to party unity?”<br/>
</p><p>Powell was the one who pressed the point by adding, “You do remember the lab is on the hunt for you kids right? They’ll be keeping an eye out for you wherever you’d normally go. My bet is they got people watching the middle school right now.” Dustin almost argued, but when Hopper grunted in agreement, his frown deepened and he nodded grudgingly. After all, it was only logical.</p><p> </p><p>Within a short while they assembled. Even Callahan was being moved out, carefully flanked by Flo and Powell on either side. Hopper had been about to argue, his moustache drooping guiltily until Callahan flatly remarked that, “I’m not staying here alone as a sitting duck.” It was sort of a miracle no one from the lab had gone after them here yet honestly. Hopper opened the door for them on the way out.<br/>
</p><p>The boys stared as Nancy dug the box of guns out from under the table and handed Barb and Jonathan a pistol. Mike actually gasped, “Nancy” as she pulled out the single spike-laden bat they salvaged and handed it to Steve. The older boy clicked his tongue and winked at Mike saucily to the boy’s complete shock.<br/>
</p><p>“Is Steve actually a badass?” Dustin whispered in awe. Mike hadn’t painted a very good picture of the older boy. Then he saw Barb who had been standing behind Steve, looking down the barrel of her rifle before she cracked open the cartridge to check it was loaded and somehow his eyes grew wider. “Whoa.”<br/>
</p><p>With the kids packed up, the officers headed out to clear the way and Nancy offered Powell her walkie. Now that they were all together, they synced up the walkies among them and split them among the groups. Both Byers and the younger kids in Johns car, Nancy with Steve and Barb, and Hopper with the other officers.<br/>
</p><p>As everyone headed out the door, Dustin sighed to himself mournfully, “Guess I’ll find Lunch Lady Phyllis’s stash another day.” Then he noticed Barb heard and was watching him with mixed interest and amusement. Turning red, Dustin ran out the door with a squeak.<br/>
</p><p>She craned her neck to follow his retreating form then shook her head and clicked her tongue. “I told Nancy Phyliss was hoarding the pudding cups,” she said to no one in particular as she followed.</p><p> </p><p>With the sheer numbers of their group, it was a wonder things went as quietly as they did. Joyce immediately shepherded the younger kids into the high school’s gym and set them to task working on getting the kiddie pool set up. It wasn’t long after that she sat down with El and began talking to the girl softly. Mike lingered a moment to have a word with Nancy as the two of them quirked a smile in a rare moment of sibling bonding that, rarer still, filled them both with fondness.<br/>
</p><p>Then Mike asked, “Do you like Jonathan now?”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy protested, then turned the tables. “Do you like Eleven?”<br/>
</p><p>They parted, the moment over as they sputtered refutes and waved off the others’ questions.<br/>
</p><p>It might have amused Barb greatly to witness and point out to Nancy she wasn’t the only one wondering about Nancy and Jonathan. But instead, she tagged along with the boy in question and Hopper, shooting Jonathan a mischievous grin as the older man smashed in the lock to the supply closet. Jonathan kept looking over his shoulder nervously, but was steady and patient waiting to be sure she had a grip on the pump as they carried the tangled mess of hose for the pool out.<br/>
</p><p>Powell, Nancy, and Steve ran a handoff line with bags of salt that Nancy efficiently tore open. Once Powell groaned about a knot in his back after the third one he retired to check on where Flo had Callahan laid out over the bleachers. Steve took over dumping the bags. He struggled with the weight as Barb turned the pump on, nearly dropping the first one all over the gym floor as he struggled with it. In the end, with Jonathan’s help, they did manage somehow to get the salt bath together.<br/>
</p><p>They worked quickly, and, surprisingly, got quiet from the younger kids. As their work reached closer to completion, El got steadily paler and withdrawn which affected Mike, and then the other boys by extension. Eventually the nervous energy came out as they whispered to each other about whether this would work.<br/>
</p><p>Joyce kept murmuring consoling advice and encouragement. She was wane though, the lines on her face deep in the dim night lighting they dared to risk. She hadn’t heard from Will since the wall incident which was about the same as what the kids had said of when El could get his voice on the radio. After the first few days of steady progress, it was unnerving and Joyce struggled to balance her concern with Will with the newfound concern for this girl who was <i>named after a number for Christ’s sake!</i> For a moment though, it felt like she done something right when she won a shy smile by offering El the blindfold and calling her a “brave girl.”<br/>
</p><p>Finally, Hopper rubbed his eyes and took one more look, satisfied the salt was dissolved properly. Then he turned on the last of the heaters they pulled out to jury rig the right temperature. He didn’t have to raise his voice, the tone of it alone filling the already tense room as kept his eyes on the pool and rumbled, “It’s ready.”</p><p> </p><p>Barb wasn’t sure what to do as she clasped her fingers and rocked on her heels. Steve sat at the pool edge flanking El with Joyce. He was there with all the gravity and cheer of a wake as Nancy squeezed his arm and sat close up by his side. It struck Barb that keeping El calm and talking her through things might have been the only thing holding Joyce together as the older woman held the girl’s hand close, reassuring the child that she was there for her. That they all were. And so they were.<br/>
</p><p>All of them ringed around the pool and hoping against hope for some sign of Carol or Will’s health, proof of the power and monsters that turned their world inside out and upside down for the last week. Even Callahan sat up from his spot in the bleachers, just as quiet and attentive as the rest of them to El clambering into the kiddy pool and shivering as she lay in the lukewarm salty water.<br/>
</p><p>With a deep breath and a nod to Steve and Joyce, El pulled the bandana down over her eyes and lay down shakily. She was shivering so hard, Hopper was not the only one to make move to bring the heaters close only to stop as El called for them to adjusted the water’s temperature. Then once she finally seemed satisfied, El whimpered, but reached out to squeeze Joyce’s hand with both of hers for a moment before laying prone again. Then as she took deep, trembling breaths, the timber of her breath caught and she went somewhat limp before her feeble voice called out. “Carol? Carol?”<br/>
</p><p>The room went silent but for the buzz of the heaters. Even with that, no one seemed to dare to move, barely breathing as El kept calling for Carol. Then she stopped.<br/>
</p><p>After a moment whispers broke out<br/>
</p><p>“What’s going on?” “I don’t know.”<br/>
</p><p>Barb gasped, hands to her mouth as El’s screaming tore through the still gym. “Gone! Gone! Gone!”<br/>
</p><p>Barb couldn’t breath past the knot in either her throat or chest, but her eyes went to Steve. He stared at El, still blindfolded as she flailed in the water and kept on shrieking, “Gone! Gone! Gone!” Barb’s heart broke for the boy as he remained that way, still as a statue, and didn’t react as Nancy tried to get him to look at her and used gentle touches and a soft voice to try to reach him.<br/>
</p><p>“It’s okay. It’s okay.” Joyce tried to calm El, trembling herself and not from the cold. El scrabbled at her face, finally tearing the blindfold off as Joyce repeated that mantra, rubbing the arm that she held. With a gasp, El stopped that pitiful, horrified screaming and slowly pulled herself together taking shuddering breaths as she reached out for Joyce.<br/>
</p><p>“You ok?”<br/>
</p><p>Barb jumped, nearly falling over and taking Powell with her, but the older man was ready to catch her. “You look like you’re going to be sick.” The older man whispered, concern apparent in his dark eyes.<br/>
</p><p>She tried to speak and found her throat to dry, swallowing she nodded and pulled back. “Yea, yeah. I’m, uhm, fine. I’m more worried about,” finding she couldn’t say his name she waved at the still silently bereaved Steve who hadn’t moved but for the tears leaking and running down his face. Powell understood perfectly and gently patted her shoulder, not commenting as she hesitated and then turned to bury her face in his shoulder. Barb leaned into that human contact, unable to watch the misery that was Nancy trying to comfort Steve to no avail.<br/>
</p><p>With that display, though they had no concrete proof, no one questioned the distress in El’s actions. Jonathan hunched even closer to Joyce who calmed the distraught girl and whispered, “I’m right here with you.” Hopper had pulled his hat over his eyes, the set of his jaw tight. Besides him, Flo had pulled out a rosary and was whispering a soft prayer for Carol.<br/>
</p><p>That seemed to be enough to draw Steve out of his stupor. Nancy watched him turn to face Flo as this complete stranger asked for peace and a kinder place in heaven for his friend. “Steve,” she whispered again, and after a moment, she verged on despair until his hand fluttered and caught her wrist. She grabbed back, squeezing, and it was like a dam broke loose in her heart. Overwhelmed, she buried her face in Steve’s side and they cried quietly together.<br/>
</p><p>Eventually Joyce’s voice stopped, and like a signal, everyone’s attention snapped back to El. The girl’s blindfold was back on as she sank into the bath once again. “Will? Will?” Her voice was smaller now, even accounting for how the screaming ran it ragged. “Will?” she pleaded into the cold night sky. Nearby Callahan, the walkie Powell placed there crackled.<br/>
</p><p>“Wi – “<br/>
</p><p>A blast of static burst out of the walkie.<br/>
</p><p>El abruptly sat up, pulling out of Joyce’s grip. She tore the blindfold off, eyes horrified and face pained as she reached up to her mouth. She rocked back and forth, and then sobbed, shaking her head as Joyce asked desperately, “Eleven? El? What did you see? Please, El,” the older woman’s voice broke and tears ran down her face. Jonathan was already red and bawling as he fell back and shook his head. “Wha-what did you see?”<br/>
</p><p>Callahan flailed for the walkie, ultimately just knocking it off to the ground. There it slid to a stop far out of reach, still letting out that awful static with whistling and pops that sent Dustin and Flo grabbing their ears as Lucas chased it down.<br/>
</p><p>“Not,” El, gasped weakly, “Not ok.”<br/>
</p><p>Jonathan froze as his mother asked, “Not ok? Is - ? Is he alive?”<br/>
</p><p>El just kept grabbing at her mouth. “Not…” she burst into tears again as Joyce and Hopper traded equally nervous and baffled looks. “Not ok,” El repeated. Lucas reached the walkie and hit the power. Then he frowned as he realized it was already switched off. Then a splash from behind Lucas made him and everyone watch as Steve clambered into the pool and picked up El, hugging her close sopping clothes and all. As the girl desperately hugged him back, the walkie in Lucas’s hand gave one more crackling pop before falling silent.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Set Up</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Content warning</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Night of November 12th</b>
</p><p>Powell felt like he should have said something, he really did. Callahan had tried.<br/>
</p><p>
  <i>“By yourself?” Callahan looked aghast. “No. Absolutely not. You’re not a PI anymore Hopper, you got the department for a reason.”<br/>
</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Powell was already on his feet, belt patted and checked for everything he needed and he put his hat back on. He stepped forward and cleared his throat.<br/>
</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Then Hopper shook his head. “Who the hell is going to keep an eye on this circus?” he jerked a finger over his shoulder. Powell felt his heart sink. Barb and Nancy clucked over patting Steve and El down with towels as they shivered under the heaters. Powell could actually see the steam gently rising off them from the heat. It was a bit hard for the girls the way El stuck herself to Steve and how Mike kept getting underfoot, clearly not liking her new attachment to Nancy’s boyfriend. The horror.<br/>
</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Jonathan was quiet, which wasn’t surprising. He was just lurking, red-eyed with an expression on his face that look between deep in thought, determined, and 100% getting into trouble. How long he’d just be lurking though, Powell couldn’t say. He knew faces like that that on kids and how much it could spiral out of control.<br/>
</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Dustin and Lucas were surprisingly docile, just talking. The topic jumping back and forth in speculation about what happened to Will in terms that made Powell glad the Byer’s hadn’t overheard. When they weren’t talking about Will, they talked about El and the radio in Lucas’s hand. Both topics were riddled with references to something or another that sounded vaguely fantasy-esque, but Powell made even less sense of the technobabble and paranormal the radio apparently involved.<br/>
</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Four teenagers and four kids, one evidently superpowered. With Flo occupied fixing up Callahan, Powell and Joyce would still be outnumbered with their hands full keeping them in line.<br/>
</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“Besides, I won’t be alone.” Hopper admitted, somewhat embarrassed.
</i>
</p><p>
  <i>That took all of two seconds to sink in before Powell threw his hat on the ground in disgust. “Really, Chief? Really?”<br/>
</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“You want to tell Joyce she can’t come?” Hopper raised a brow at his deputy and Powell struggled to contain his dismay before sighing and bending to retrieve his hat.<br/>
</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“For the record, this is a terrible idea.”<br/>
</i>
</p><p><i>“And don’t I know it.” Hopper admitted.</i><br/>
</p><p>Little had changed once the chief and Joyce left. At some point, all the kids gathered around the heaters, which Powell couldn’t blame them for. It was cold and the drafty gymnasium wasn’t helping anything. A part of him itched to be out there and moving, but winter was setting in and, in all seriousness, Powell was starting to like desk work more and more these days. This whole mess caught him on the backfoot after years of reliable peace and quiet.<br/>
</p><p>Powell resolved to start hitting the gym again and get back into shape. Less donuts. Well, maybe cut back to half. Maybe drag Callahan into it. The boy was getting sloppy too. Time was, Callahan could have taken that man in the junkyard down without fuss. Then again, Powell remembered to appreciate that it was a federal agent so maybe he should cut his partner some slack. They had gotten so firmly in their neat cop/sloppy cop routine, as Callahan liked to refer to it, that this kind of scare had only come from drunkards or the Donnellys out back off the interstate every other year or so.<br/>
</p><p>Maybe it was time that they had been due something.<br/>
</p><p>Callahan hissed, “Jeeze Flo, can’t you be gentler? Thought you were only this rough with your husband in bed.”<br/>
</p><p>Flo’s long suffering sigh was accompanied by a cuff. “Be glad I’m not making you get stitches for this boy. I have my kit and the needle with me.”<br/>
</p><p>Callahan would’ve protested or tried another ill-advised crack about Flo’s care, but she knew their weak spots well and he shut up without her having to actually get the needle out to make him squeamish.<br/>
</p><p>“He still holding together?” Powell asked.<br/>
</p><p>Flo nodded, “Would’ve rather he not be moved, but can’t really be helped.” After a moment, she added with in a lower voice, “I don’t like that this has been going on under our noses the whole time.”<br/>
</p><p>Callahan’s eyes glinted coldly. “It’s the feds, just drop a line about the commies and everyone falls into line. <i>My country tis of thee,</i>” he sang sardonically under his breath.<br/>
</p><p>Under his dumbass act, Callahan had a bitter streak about authority that even Hopper rarely got to see. He originally had gone into law enforcement with a serious passion for justice. Police school and training gave him a good foundation for the legal knowledge to do so, but an old habit of being too loose with his tongue early on earned him the façade for dumb ideas and taught him to use it well. The kind of notions Callahan nurtured under his act wasn’t a view much appreciated at their little police station when he came back home to Hawkins. The little circle with Powell, Hopper, and Flo was the exception.<br/>
</p><p>“None of that now Phil.” Whether it was using his first name or the gentle, warning tone she used, Flo managed to silence Callahan. Her husband had been a union leader at the local steelwork, or rather tried to until the union busters moved in. Now he stayed at home, minding their small garden as best as his hobble let him. He and Callahan got along well. Maybe a little too well, but Powell did his part to cover for them so nobody could think to pin them for being sympathizers. Powell could trust them with his own back in turn. He certainly wouldn’t have gotten this far as a black officer in the Midwest without them.<br/>
</p><p>“You think they’ll really find all those people at the library?” Powell muttered instead. The only clue El was able to sensibly offer outside of snake plants and bodies was “books.” Powell loved Hawkins Library deeply, always had when the little old lady running it scolded the local hicks for trying to drive him and his sister out as kids. He still had photos with old Ms. Wallace in his family photo album, bless her soul and may she rest in peace. The thought of that Demowhatsit using the library as a nest and eating people there made left him breathlessly nauseous and furious at the same time. Also, concerned that Marissa might be in danger. Certainly, he hadn’t noticed anything amiss when he and Hopper checked in to research the lab. But Ms. Wallace always warned him about the stacks below and how much could be lost in there.<br/>
</p><p>Flo just hummed softly. “I get the feeling there’s more to it than that.”<br/>
</p><p>“That other world?” Callahan asked.<br/>
</p><p>“You shouldn’t let that girl mess with your head,” Powell chided gently. When Callahan sneezed, Powell, pulled the blanket draped over Callahn’s lower half back into place.<br/>
</p><p>“Joyce’s seen it too. And Hopper believes her enough to go through with this whole clown act.” Callahan, argued. If he was good enough to play devil’s advocate, Powell could relax and he did, letting the argument go. The evidence was compelling and logically things added up. But Powell was a simple man. Until he could see it with his own two eyes, this monster and El’s powers seemed just as likely to be some kind of druggie hallucination the lab cooked up and leaked up all over Hawkins. Not that he was going to say that to anyone.<br/>
</p><p>Instead he glanced at Flo. Despite her focus and the firm way she redressed Callahan’s wounds, a frown lingered on her face. Gently, he queried, “Penny for your thoughts, Flo.”<br/>
</p><p>She opened her mouth, and then clapped it shut after a moment of silence. When she did speak, it was resigned and thick with misery. “I think this’ll get a whole lot worse before it gets any better. I got that feeling.” From the bleak tone, it was the rare “feeling” that came before news of her husband’s knee being shattered and Callahan’s dad passing away of cancer.<br/>
</p><p>Powell was not a superstitious person. He wasn’t even faithful, unlike Flo or his sister who went into the ministry. But he respected the concerns and fears weighing on his second family here at work. Seeing the shadow over Flo spread to Callahan, Powell wished he could find it in himself to say a prayer to something out there.</p><p> </p><p>“We need to finish this,” Steve said firmly. Jonathan and Barb nodded, and Nancy just mingled her fingers with her boyfriends. Unfortunately she ended up with the cold left hand. It was still cold and clammy, not having warmed up quite like his right hand as Steve had hugged a traumatized El close to comfort her.<br/>
</p><p>“Steve,” Nancy was concerned. After Barb opened up the last few days about her own hang ups and the way Steve was acting, she was worried for him.<br/>
</p><p>“Nancy, Joyce and Hopper are just walking in there like bait.”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy looked to Jonathan, but he was still grim, tensing his jaw like he was grinding his teeth and flicking his eyes from the door, to the cops, and then to Nancy. He wanted to move and whatever happened to Will, he seemed to want to take it out on the monster. In a way, it was the expected result of damning news upon damning news putting the final nail in the coffin for the awkwardly, mousy boy Jonathan had been before this. It didn’t make seeing him this way any easier to bear. “That thing is still in there,” she put in a token effort of protest. At this point, she’d be the only one of the group not on a warpath, and she was going to gauge how they reacted. Not that she could bear the thought of letting them go do this on their own. It hurt, the thought of Steve, Barb, or even Jonathan getting into trouble or worse if she could have been there to do something, but wasn’t.<br/>
</p><p><i>“You could kill someone in the next room and no one would be the wiser.”</i><br/>
</p><p>Nancy shook her head, still unable to dispel the specter and particular lilt of Carol’s voice saying that over and over again the last hour.<br/>
</p><p>Steve was already shaking his head himself. “And we can’t just sit here and let it get to them, too.” Then he smacked his hands over his eyes. “Please Nancy…I don’t want anyone else to die tonight.”<br/>
</p><p>For what felt like the first time since El tried reaching Will, Jonathan spoke, and it came out almost as a growl. “Not my mom too.” Barb wavered, her own determined mask cracking with sadness and concern. As for Nancy, the best that she could tell after the sparse two weeks with Steve, he wasn’t hamming it up. Steve would rather die himself than sit by and let this demigargle kill another person he knew. His odds of living would be that much better with them all working together. Certainly, Barb and Jonathan weren’t going to tell him to stay.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy nodded briskly. “Then let’s move now, before the cops catch on.”<br/>
</p><p>A glance at the officers saw Powell and Flo deeply involved in debating something as Callahan rested with eyes closed. Then Powell looked their way and frowned.<br/>
</p><p>“Shit,” Barb muttered under her breath.<br/>
</p><p>“Hey you, kids. What are you doing?”<br/>
</p><p>Nancy shoved her panic away and reached for an excuse, an idea coming to mind as she opened her mouth.<br/>
</p><p>“Nothing!”<br/>
</p><p>The guilty denial made the four teens whirl on Mike as he stood at the front of the other younger kids. Then the teens parted way as Flo and Powell made a fast beeline for the four kids who had the door to the main school open.<br/>
</p><p>“Really now?” Flo pulled Dustin away from the door to let it slam close and crossed her arms, glaring at the kids with steel in her eyes.<br/>
</p><p>“El’s hungry! She needs fuel if we fight the Demogorgan!” Dustin informed them matter-of-factly like it was obvious.<br/>
</p><p>“You tell us first, and then we’ll go get food together,” Powell was keeping his temper, but the way he crossed his arms and leaned in close to Mike let the boy know just far on thin ice they were. As Flo and Dustin argued, Nancy, felt a tap on her shoulder. Barb was already backing off following Jonathan as Steve eased open a side door.<br/>
</p><p>“I have a bone condition!” Dustin boomed in exasperation as Flo took a step back and blinked.<br/>
</p><p>“Volume young man!” she scolded, nearly as loud.<br/>
</p><p>Without another word, the teens slipped out into the night.</p><p> </p><p>When Barb asked “Steve’s or Jonathans?” Steve had been the first to reply and Nancy chimed agreement. On the way there, Nancy told them about the setup she had for the bear trap that she hadn’t been able to tell them the other day and outlined an ambush point for the thing in front of Steve’s ridiculously large first floor bathroom.<br/>
</p><p>“How are we going to fit in there?” Jonathan started to protest.<br/>
</p><p>Barb shut him down by saying, “Jonathan. It’s literally as big as your room.”<br/>
</p><p>“Right. Rich boy.” Jonathan sighed for a moment. Steve shrugged helplessly from the front seat. Nancy gave him a wry smile and regretted that the instinct for everyone to get in “their” seat after escaping the Demogorgan kept them apart again.<br/>
</p><p>“So we set the Demogorgan on fire and bash it with the bats until it stops moving.” Barb said calmly as if she were discussing makeup as she checked in the rearview mirror for Nancy’s nod she got the plan down. Jonathan nodded savagely too, seeming to like this plan. His silence was starting to move from just awkward to somewhat unnerving.<br/>
</p><p>“I can’t believe we’re calling it that,” Nancy sighed as Barb tore through the police tape and pulled up on Steve’s driveway again.<br/>
</p><p>“Easier than man-with-no-face,” Barb then sighed. “Wait, same number of syllables. Why are we -?” She just groaned and pulled her gun out. “Let’s make sure it’s not here yet.”<br/>
</p><p>After confirming the Demogorgan was not on the grounds, they all went to work. Nancy tested the bear trap, making sure that it was still in working order. Steve set about cleaning up the worst of the glass in the living room lest something like Jonathan’s fall brought it on them before they were ready. When he finished, he sat down on his couch, trying to think of something else to contribute when his eyes landed on his father’s liquor cabinet. Once Jonathan retrieved the second bat, he helped Nancy set up the device. For her part, Barb made sure everyone, even Steve, got at least a pistol and generous shares of bullets, before she sat down at the dining table. There she sat with her hands steepled studying the last of their supplies and weighing their options.</p><p> </p><p>“Where did they go?” Powell groused yet again. The younger kids were sat in a row on the bleachers, mostly untouched plates of cooling chicken nuggets balanced on their laps. Callahan hemmed them in one end and Flo stood at the other, watching their every shift and scratch like a hawk. She was just as upset as Powell when Callahan woke and asked where the teenagers had gone. “They went and gone to get themselves killed.” He groaned, not liking the guilt of his hubris, catching the kids only to let the teenagers loose into much more danger, settling on his shoulders.<br/>
</p><p>It went without saying that, with Callahan the way he was, if Flo or Powell left the younger kids unattended, there was no doubt they’d have no problem with running off to get into mischief of their own. As it was he was already beating himself up mentally. He knew that look on Jonathan’s face, knew the kind of trouble a self-righteous teenager could get into.<br/>
</p><p>The problem wasn’t Mike or El. El was surprisingly well behaved if a bit resentful of being forced to sit still. She was much fonder of Flo than the male officers, but at the moment, she and Mike were distracted talking about the Snow Ball. All the better for Powell. Hearing Mike promise her a life where she didn’t have to live “like a dog” rankled the senior officer badly and he struggled to ignore unpleasant memories from years past.<br/>
</p><p>At last, Dustin clearly couldn’t take it any more “So the high schoolers get to go out and do what they want? Why? Cuz they’re only five years older than us?”<br/>
</p><p>“Those kids can handle themselves.” Powell grated. He didn’t want to risk panic or making the kids afraid, but instead just handed ammo to Dustin who immediately took the opening.<br/>
</p><p>“And we evaded federal agents for hours! Hours!” Lucas poked his side, making futile, abortive gestures around his neck. but Mike was getting similarly indignant with El huddled miserably by him.<br/>
</p><p>“Yeah, how come my sister gets to run off to make out with her boyfriend while we’re stuck here? It’s not fair!”<br/>
</p><p>“Hey!” Callahan hollared. At the very least, him raising his voice caught the kids by surprise. “Keep it down munchkins, we’re supposed to be hiding remember?” It was just as well he did, Powell’s response would have been a lot ruder.<br/>
</p><p>“Lord give me strength,” Flo sighed as Dustin recovered and started up again about El’s super powers.<br/>
</p><p>Powell rubbed his eyes and was inclined to agree. “Hopper said to watch El, so that means keeping a low profile and staying here.” As the boys tried to argue, he snapped, “Take it up with the Chief when you he gets back, but gag me with a spoon if you show me a moment of your sass any longer!” he risked bellowing.<br/>
</p><p>As the boys fell silent, El raised a hand, and despite being taken back by it, Powell composed himself for her sake and asked, “Yes El, what is it?”<br/>
</p><p>“More?” She asked holding up her empty plate. To the side, Callahan spluttered and whined with choked laughter at the expression on Powell and Flo’s faces.<br/>
</p><p>Deciding Flo could take El with her to cafeteria for more food, Powell took her place to keep the three boys in line between them. In the end the boys started talking about the teenagers again, and so long as it was just talk, Powell would let them. Eventually, in the face of Mike’s unexpected distress over Nancy, Lucas said, “Besides, she’s ok. She’s with Steve, Barb, and Jonathan now.”<br/>
</p><p>“Yeah,” Dustin added, “and she’s kinda badass now, so…”<br/>
</p><p>Then Flo returned with another tray of chicken nuggets. Trailing behind her, El also carried cartons of milk and a bottle of ketchup. “Here El. Any more for you boys?” Mike sighed in disgust as Dustin immediately raised his hand.<br/>
</p><p>“Dustin, man, really?” Lucas groaned.<br/>
</p><p>“What? We need to recharge!”<br/>
</p><p>Looking away from the kids, Callahan caught Powell’s eye. “If we’re going to be lunch ladies, does that mean I’m going to need a hairnet?” Powell coughed at the mental image as Flo cuffed the younger officer.</p><p> </p><p>When Jonathan produced the gas container from the garage, Steve stepped forward. “Let me.” The other boy nodded and passed it over, letting Steve liberally douse the bear trap and leak a trail back to their makeshift fortification of kitchen furniture in the bathroom. Looking at the trap arranged through the doorway, Steve nodded. “Always hated this carpet anyways,” he said with manic glee.<br/>
</p><p>The crack failed to get any levity, but that didn’t seem to bother Steve. If anything, it troubled Nancy seeing Steve willing to literally burn down his house to get the Demogorgon. Nancy looked to Barb who was fidgeting with a cartridge of bullets none of their guns could actually load. “Barb? Doesn’t,” she threw a thumb over her shoulder at Steve dumping out the gasoline on the bear trap, “make you a bit nervous?”<br/>
</p><p>“We’ve got his back Nancy. That’s why we’re in this together. I’ll watch Steve, you watch Jonathan, and we’ll get them out of this mess alive.” Barb pocketed the cartridge and instead rubbed a thumb along the strap of bulging backpack of supplies she had scrounged up.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy nodded slowly, wishing she could share in Barb’s confidence.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Warning for anti-black racism and microaggressions in a historical context.</p><p> </p><p>Author notes: Also the chapter where the police station peeps get their back stories. Yay!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Ambush</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Midnight of November 12th </b>
</p><p>Callahan took an experimental step and then another. Pain bloomed above his knee. “Shit,” he shuddered, fighting to keep his balance.<br/>
</p><p>“Language,” Flo warned as she turned back and then her eyes bulged. “Phillip Scott Callahan, what are you doing? Sit down!”<br/>
</p><p>Powell shrugged where he sat, arms crossed. “I told you she’d get mad.”<br/>
</p><p>The kids all turned to watch. They were already learning to appreciate watching Flo scold someone instead of being on the receiving end themselves.<br/>
</p><p>The younger officer fought to keep his balance as he waved Flo’s hovering back. “Can we go someplace warmer than this?” Callahan shivered. “I’m freezing my balls off here and the blankie ain’t cutting it.”<br/>
</p><p>“Please?” Mike muttered. He shivered only a little bit himself, but gestured at El who sneezed. “We’ll take the blanket if he doesn’t want it.”<br/>
</p><p>Flo sighed, but looked to Powell. The other officer already had his hat on and offered Callahan an arm. “Come on, sure we can find a classroom somewhere that has heating.” The kids were eager to get a move on and gathered in a cluster.</p><p> </p><p>They gathered in the foyer. Each of them carrying some sort of gun and the boys armed with their bats. Barb looked overloaded with a rifle and shotgun over either shoulder strap of her backpack, while Nancy had only the extra shotgun she wasn’t exactly keen on using herself. Now they stood in a circle, facing each other. “So remember,” Nancy licked lips gone dry with anxious tension, “Straight into the bathroom and - ”<br/>
</p><p>“Don’t step on the trap,” Barb finished drily.<br/>
</p><p>Nancy nodded, “Wait for the yo-yo to move, then…” Her hand tightened on the pistol in her offhand as the others shifted and steadied their nerves in their own ways.<br/>
</p><p>Finally, Steve held up a quartet of knives. “You ready? Last chance to back out.” His malicious glee from earlier was gone already. The energy lingered though, Steve could barely stand still and his eyes glittered with dark anticipation. Barb and Jonathan took their knives and Nancy waited for them to move back before gingerly taking her own and holding the blade ready near her palm like the others.<br/>
</p><p>“One,” Barb began after a moment where they looked to each other, questioningly. “Two.”<br/>
</p><p>“Nancy.” Given how rarely he spoke this night, every time Jonathan said a word, he got everyone’s attention. “You don’t have to do this.”<br/>
</p><p>Despite herself, Nancy did feel taken aback by the other boy’s concern. “Jonathan, we’re a team, ok? Shut up.” Oddly enough, saying it settled something in her. She was not going to leave them to handle this without her, dumb as it was, a strong part of her did-in-fact want to be here by their side.<br/>
</p><p>“I’m just saying, you don’t have to – “<br/>
</p><p>“Three,” Nancy declared, slashing at her palm. She barely winced as she felt the bite of chilly metal.</p><p> </p><p>“Cold, cold, cold,” Dustin hissed, bouncing and rubbing at his arms with each step. Flo herded them from the back with a watchful eye, trusting the kids with Callahan who El innocently supported on one side with Mike sticking close to the other. Powell took the lead, his flashlight out as he opened doors and checked. He dismissed a storage closet, laundry room, and a cramped office that reeked of sweat that he wrinkled his nose at as he hastily backed out.<br/>
</p><p>“Come on, let’s see if we can find an actual classroom,” he complained heading straight to the end of the hall. He pushed the door open and waved them through. “No funny business now,” he warned as he did a head count.<br/>
</p><p>“Hey, what’s that?” Lucas wondered as he pointed out a window. The hallway was full of them.<br/>
</p><p>Powell traded nods with Flo before he sighed and indulged the boy. He glanced out the window himself. “Looks like…”<br/>
</p><p>Headlights. A whole lot of them pouring into the parking lot in a line.<br/>
</p><p>“Shit,” Powell flicked his flashlight off. “We got to move.” He pushed El forward and waved at the others to follow.</p><p> </p><p>Following Nancy’s decisive lead, Steve made his cut, then Barb with a small whimper, and Jonathan last. Nancy then crouched and smacked the plush carpet a few times with her palm, leaving a few smears of blood on the no-longer-pristine white carpet. While the others followed suit and, Nancy procured a roll of linen. “I don’t want you guys to lose your grip.” She reached for Jonathan’s hand, not liking how much deeper he seemed to slice at the skin. Then she hissed as she realized he cut the same palm the glass had gouged open only that morning.<br/>
</p><p>She had just given it a few turns around his hand when Steve growled, and then Barb yanked at her rifle. “Nancy, Jonathan!” she warned. The pools lights were flickering and then the living room lit up again. With the light show under way, Jonathan pulled out of Nancy’s grip and he and Steve took their places before the girls. 
</p><p>Then the pool lights fizzled out completely and a dark shape rose, glistening as one limb slapped onto the pool side.</p><p> </p><p>Powell’s hand slapped on the side of a doorjamb, struggling to keep his balance as he led the others in a sharply made turn. Over the sounds of their breathing, footsteps, and Callahan’s tight breaths of pain, the echo of doors in a distant part of the school slamming open rang clear. “Left,” hissed Callahan, unfortunately right into Powell’s ear. Powell’s breath hitched as he tried not to drop Callahan. Carrying the other man pack-strap style was difficult enough that Powell felt like he was holding the others’ escape back, not leading it. Still, the kids followed with Flo just behind and they ended up at an intersection.<br/>
</p><p>“Now where?” Mike shout-whispered as Lucas hissed for him to be quiet nearly as loud.<br/>
</p><p>Callahan was embarrassed to say he didn’t recognize this place at all. “I don’t know. They must have renovated,” he confessed weakly. It had been years since he graduated, but the old study halls had been decrepit since even before he went to high school here. So much for that idea.<br/>
</p><p>“Shit.” Powell, adjusted his fellow officer’s weight. He hadn’t actually attended Hawkins High. Indiana may have desegregated before the fifties, but until they started busing in black students to white schools it hadn’t stuck. At that point, Powell was already years out of high school.<br/>
</p><p>“Now what?”<br/>
</p><p>The sound of pounding boots and sharply barked orders drifted towards them and Flo pushed Callahan and, by extension, Powell forward. “Keep moving!” she hissed.</p><p> </p><p>Steve exploded into a rush of motion. He dropped his bat and, lighter in his free hand, he scooped up one of the bottles he had placed on the living room table. “Come and get it fucker,” he snarled, setting fire to the scrap of cloth hanging out of the bottle. Like he had been drilled in it, Steve, smoothly hurled the Molotov cocktail with all the finesse of his years of little league baseball.<br/>
</p><p>As the Demogorgan surged out of the pool, the bottle shattered right on its head, and the annoyed growl quickly morphed to a pained shrill as the alcohol caught fire.<br/>
</p><p>“Yeah!” Steve bellowed, “there’s more where that came from!” He already had another lit Molotov in his hand, not stopping between the first throw to grab a fresh one, and lobbed it. Though the first one’s flames guttered, the fresh alcohol ignited more easily and the Demogorgan’s shrill rang sharper in protest, flailing as the flames ran over its oily-looking skin. Then it recoiled and wailed as the bang of Barb’s rifle met its mark. As the bigger girl fumbled to pull out a fresh bullet and cracked the casing open to reload, she hissed, “Nancy!”<br/>
</p><p>The other girl blinked, gathering herself after Steve’s surprise opening gambit and barely checked her aim as she fired and the demogorgan squealed angrily again. Jonathan hesitated, not sure if he should close in as Steve lobbed another Molotov. Then Barb’s next shot knocked the demogorgan another step back to skid on the pool edge. Off balance, it then slipped into the pool with a tremendous splash.<br/>
</p><p>The surface of the pool thrashed and sprayed water in every direction as the flames died out. With only the light of the first quarter moon, they struggled to make out the demogorgan as the thrashing on the surface slowed and stopped.</p><p> </p><p>The desperate attempt to flee through the school stopped abruptly when the kids bowled headlong into a man and Powell bounced off a broad-shouldered hulk in an ill-fitting suit. “Shit!”<br/>
</p><p>Callahan’s answer was a pained whine as he hit the floor and pain jarred his bullet wounds.<br/>
</p><p>“Kids!” Flo ran forward only to halt as another sharply dressed man and woman turned their armed guns on her. The secretary froze in place even as the lone woman among the agents’ mouth curled upwards, not in a smile.<br/>
</p><p>“There you are number eleven,” Her false cheer in her voice didn’t reach her eyes.<br/>
</p><p>“What do we do about the kids?” an agent, the big one, asked.<br/>
</p><p>“We don’t need any more eyewitnesses,” the woman in charge declared evenly as Powell felt his stomach sink.<br/>
</p><p>“But the deal with the police chief!”<br/>
</p><p>“Are you questioning me?” the woman asked, voice dangerously low. She pointed her gun at Dustin who squeaked and turned a pasty white as he started trembling.<br/>
</p><p>“Dustin!” Mike took a step forward only for the woman begin to turn her gun on him.<br/>
</p><p>“NO!” El screamed at the same time as the woman had turned to Dustin and raised her gun.</p><p> </p><p>Nancy lowered her gun and gave the others a wide eyed look, but Steve was the first to speak. “Did we kill it?” He sounded almost forlorn with disappointment as he pocketed his lighter, which earned him a warning look from Barb.<br/>
</p><p>“Hopefully,” Barb said, then she counseled, “But we don’t know for sure so - ,” She cut herself off with a surprised shriek as the ceiling above her gave way and rubble filled the room with a cloud of pale dust.<br/>
</p><p>On her back, Barb shrieked again, in horror this time, as the Demogorgan’s face opened again and it clawed downward. Only Jonathan’s desperate swing with his bat clipping the arm sent the strike whizzing over her head and not cutting into her flesh as she desperately scrambled to shove herself away.<br/>
</p><p>“Barb!” Nancy emptied her pistol one shot after another and advanced, managing to drive the demogorgan back towards the kitchen. But as its clawed foot scratched across the kitchen tiles, Nancy’s gun started clicking blanks and she turned pale. “Shit.”<br/>
</p><p>Then Steve charged by her, bat low to the ground until he used his momentum to swing it up. The bat smacked the demogorgan with a slimy sticky-sounding thud as it struck the underside of its head and the nails dragged rents in the skin along the flaps of its “face.”<br/>
</p><p>It earned Steve a shriek of what sounded like genuine pain. However, in his euphoric success, he struggled to do more than raise the bat handle when the demogorgan’s next swing hit him into the fridge heavily, driving the breath from the boy’s lungs with a pained “OOF!”</p><p> </p><p>“Oof!” the wind was knocked out of Callahan as Powell just about fell on the younger officer in an effort to run in front of the kids. At the same time, Callahan had tried to crawl to his feet and their legs had tangled together, leaving them both to fall in a heap.<br/>
</p><p>“No!” Powell full-out-wailed as he pulled himself off of Callahan. He froze. Flo had thrown herself in front of the kids, arms wide and eyes shut for a shot that never fired. Instead, she opened her eyes at everyone’s gasping and let out a shocked utterance herself as blood ran from the agents eyes and nose. Abruptly there was a squishing sound and they all abruptly fell over.<br/>
</p><p>“El!” Dustin whispered in an awe hush. They turned to see the girl lower her hand, blood dripping from her nose. Then she swooned and Flo reflexively caught the other girl from collapsing into the blood spreading from the woman’s silent body.<br/>
</p><p>“Powers.” Callahan whispered as Powell got to his feet unsteadily and then pulled the younger man up with trembling hands.<br/>
</p><p>“We need to go,” the black officer said, his skin tone ashen.<br/>
</p><p>Instead, Mike tried shaking El. “El, are you okay? El!”<br/>
</p><p>As the kids began to fuss over them, Callahan caught the click of approaching bootsteps first and fumbled drawing his gun.<br/>
</p><p>“Leave her,” barked the man with flyaway white hair that rounded the corner and advanced on them coolly. He ignored Powell raising the gun as the federal agents flanking him pulled their own guns on him, easily outnumbering him as a squad of soldiers rounded the corner just behind. Powell and Callahan had only the two guns to the man’s odd ten or twelve members’ varied armaments. “Step away from the child.” The man in charge commanded once again. Even as Mike stepped forward to defiantly say “no,” Flo scowled and tucked the comatose El closer to her chest, taking a step back.</p><p> </p><p>Nancy took a step forward with a horrified look. “Steve!” She fumbled with her ammo as Jonathan left the rattled Barb leaning against the wall and ran forward, swinging his bat.<br/>
</p><p>At this point, the Demogorgan seemed have grown a sense of caution for them. Nonetheless, it didn’t seem ready for its prey to be using these kinds of tactics on it. Instead of ignoring their blows and roaring at them, now it was roaring and taking calculated swings at Jonathan. The two of them circling around the kitchen as they tried to learn each other’s range and taking swipes at each other. That was, until Jonathan forgot where he was and ended up tripping up over Steve’s feet. He went sprawling with a cry. Thankfully, he missed falling on Steve’s bat, but his own tumbled out of his grip and bouncing away, halfway through the doorjamb of the kitchen to the dining room. Then, his head slammed into the floor and Jonathan fell silent.<br/>
</p><p>“Shit” Barb croaked. She lost track of the hunting rifle when the Demogorgan jumped her, but forced aching fingers to unholster her own handgun and fired at the Demogorgan.<br/>
</p><p>Getting clipped in the head, the Demogorgan aborted its advance on the two downed boys and hissed. Counting down the shots, Barb cursed again as she realized she had one more shot loaded left. How could she get to the boys then she wondered, desperately trying to find inspiration as she pulled bullets out of her pouch.<br/>
</p><p>Then Nancy was next to her, shooting again. “Barb, get them away from it!” She had a gun in either hand, having picked up the one Jonathan dropped, but only used the one in her right for now to cover Barb hobbling to the boys as fast as she could. Though the girls weren’t hitting every shot, much less causing damage, the repeated attacks were enough to keep the Demogorgan on the defensive as it hissed. Once it bumped into the island counter, Nancy was caught off guard as it had the presence of mind to dart around behind it and out of sight. “Shit!”<br/>
</p><p>By this point Barb finally got to the boys and simply ignored the bullets that fell out of her trembling grip. “Come on! Come on!” She pulled the comatose Jonathan off of Steve who groaned, but managed to use the refrigerator door handle to drag himself back up. The fact that the door swung open when he slipped on a bullet worked to Steve’s favor and probably saved his life. When it sent him stumbling for balance, the door took the blow as the demogorgan shot out from behind the island counter and scratched apart the inside of it instead of tearing Steve in half as the monster seemed to intend.<br/>
</p><p>“Shit!” the coiffed boy squawked breathily. He let go of the handle and pushed Jonathan and Barb back, holding their last nail bat up to guard their retreat as the Demogorgan roared and simply tore the door off the fridge in a rage as if the metal and plastic were paper.</p><p> </p><p>The soldiers pulled the kids apart efficiently and methodically. Though the boys made a good stand of defiance to the man the soldiers addressed as “Dr. Brenner,” Powell and Callahan were overwhelmed by the agents and soldiers diving for them when they couldn’t bring in themselves to fire upon the other Americans. They were quickly pinned and couldn’t raise a finger as the boys were similarly shoved down to the ground. Flo glared iron at Dr. Brenner as she tried her best to step back while still cradling El close, but the agents on either side of her put a stop to that. He didn’t seem to mind Flo as much though, content to ignore her like she was a piece of furniture as he addressed El with quiet words.<br/>
</p><p>“Yes, yes, it’s your papa.”<br/>
</p><p>“Kidnapper,” Flo snapped, then all at once she shouted insults without ceasing her voice getting higher and higher in sheer rage. “Monster, you child-stealing asshole, pervert!” An agent slapped his hand over her mouth, struggling to get an angle so that he could keep gagging her without letting her get her teeth on him as she worked around the grip on her mouth and still hold the unconscious girl securely.<br/>
</p><p>“Hey!” Callahan fumed. “Leave her alone!”<br/>
</p><p>Powell was torn. He was just as angry as his partner, but a life of watching people in power and how they could quickly turn it on him held his tongue. He was silent, but his body shook with fury as he funneled his rage through the helpless glare he sent the man holding Flo.<br/>
</p><p>All the while, Dr. Brenner crooned false sympathy to El who groggily opened her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Jonathan’s eyes finally fluttered open and he pulled off of Barb, reaching for a bat that wasn’t there anymore. “Guys! The trap!” Nancy called as she tried and failed to get a clear shot at the Demogorgan beyond their backs.<br/>
</p><p>Remembering the plan in a rush, Barb and Jonathan ran off into the side hall with a fresh sense of urgency as Nancy took one more shot at the Demogorgan. Then Steve reached her and pushed her ahead of him, saying “Go, go, GO!”<br/>
</p><p>The Demogorgon’s enraged squeal followed them as Jonathan and Barb hopped the bear trap. Nancy cleared it and her heart skipped a beat when she whirled in the door of the bathroom and saw Steve just barely clear his jump. “Nancy!” Then Jonathan grabbed the shotgun still strapped on her back to pull her in before Steve slammed into the doorframe with a pained grunt. Despite that, the older boy minded the yo-yo trap as he slammed the door close. He backed off to stand by Nancy and Jonathan trembling against each other. He clenched the bat in hand firmly once again as Barb raised the shotgun she finally pulled off her shoulder. The girl took deep breaths as she tried to steady her breath and nodded wordlessly when she met Steve’s gaze. Together, they watched the ridiculous smiley yo-yo Nancy jury-rigged to indicate their trap had been sprung. All the while, the sounds of the Demogorgan stomping through Steve’s house grew closer.<br/>
</p><p>“Come on you fucker. Come on.” Steve growled as he pulled out his lighter once again and flicked it to life, kneeling low and holding it above their gasoline trail leading to their trap.<br/>
</p><p>Barb just cleared her throat, fiercely commanding her aching and trembling body to hold her gun up so they could burst out and ambush it. Jonathan had lost his bat, but accepted the pistol Nancy held out to him, with a soft, “you dropped this.”<br/>
</p><p>As one, they tensed as the footsteps drew closer. There was a crunch and the wall shook as the Demogorgan seemed to vent its rage on the house, but the yoyo did not so much as twitch. After another breath, then two without anymore sound, the teens looked at each other, curious. Another moment passed, then another. Jonathan lowered his guard, eyes asking the same question they all were silently asking each other. <i>“Where is it?”</i> Overhead the lights flickered continued to flicker unsteadily as fiercely as any strobe light. </p><p> </p><p>The lights shone fiercely overhead, and with Brenner standing over her, it felt just like being in the trial rooms in the lab again to El. The girl fixated on him, nodding along silently and in fear at what he was saying and making Powell growl. Even as he tried to open his mouth, an agent slapped his hand over it, but the motion drew El’s eyes who flicked to Powell, Callahan next to him, then with wider eyes she jerked from where she leaned against Flo to find Mike.<br/>
</p><p>“Mike? Mike!” Brenner moved closer to block El’s vision, whispering fast and grabbing her chin as Flo wriggled in her captor’s grip fiercer than ever before.<br/>
</p><p>“Mike!” Lucas hissed urgently to the conked out boy. The other blinked groggily as Lucas shook him. The soldiers had been rough shoving them against the wall.<br/>
</p><p>“Blood,” Dustin whispered with great import hanging on that words.<br/>
</p><p>“What?” the dazed boy wondered.<br/>
</p><p>“Blood,” Dustin repeated, more urgently as the lights started to flicker. Brenner stopped talking, standing as he and his agents looked up at the flickering lights. Over the humming and buzzing of their malfunction, they all could make out a crunching sound and the patter of things dropping until one agent pointed to a crack in the far wall spilling plaster and concrete. A wail pierced the air as El sobbed and shrank against Flo again.<br/>
</p><p>Then the wall exploded.</p><p> </p><p>The wall to their left exploded and Nancy screamed, clamping down on the trigger. Her shot went straight into the ceiling as the force of the wall bursting open knocked Steve, nearest to the wall, off his feet again. Thankfully, his lighter went flying against the far wall instead of igniting the gasoline and cutting off their only exit. The Demogorgan retracted its arm, clearly visible through the sizable hole it had made. It roared again, only for a fierce, tortured sound to rip out itself out of Barb’s throat in reply. She swung the double barrel of her gun around and pulled the trigger. The recoil sent her stumbling back past Steve, but the boy kept his bat away from her legs as the Demogorgan exploded with noise and tore the hole wider in its spasms of rage and pain.<br/>
</p><p>“Out! Out!” Jonathan took Nancy by the shoulders as the younger girl bit down another sob and fired her handgun at one of arms sticking through the hole. She didn’t linger to see if she hit, instead trying not to trip up herself or Jonathan as the boy threw open the door for them and ran out.<br/>
</p><p>Steve rolled to his feet right on their heels, only to turn around and see Barb struggling with a handful of bullets, trying to pick out shotgun shells as the Demogorgan tore its way further into the bathroom. “Barb, now!” he ducked under one arm, and took the girl by the wrist. On the way out, he had to awkwardly swung the bat once more at an outstretched arm and the Demogorgan pulled the struck limb back with another enraged shrill. As Steve pulled the girl out the door, he turned to see Nancy standing in the foyer, motioning for them to follow. “Jonathan has his keys, lets go!!!”</p><p> </p><p>“Let’s go!” Powell boomed as the monster crawled through the hole in the wall and rose to its full height. He fought free of the slack-jawed agent holding him and kicked him away. Most of them were just too stunned to process what was going on when the Demo-whatsit fell on the closest soldier and started tearing the unfortunate man apart in a frenzy. Faced with that, Callahan’s captors ignored him completely to fire on the thing. It also helped draw attention away from Callahan crawling on the ground to seize his and Powell’s handguns back.<br/>
</p><p>The kids had gone straight to shoving the agents off of Flo, which only worked at that moment because the monster jumped off the ravaged soldier and knocked Brenner off his feet. While the agents and soldiers tried to save their leader, Powell and Callahan, hopped up on adrenaline, ran over and covered the kids and Flo’s retreat. The older woman already had El draped over her shoulders like the EMT training taught her, trusting the kids to keep their eyes open and find a place for them to hide.<br/>
</p><p>The kids zigged and zagged down a few walls before they threw open a door and piled inside. Powell was the last one in, immediately slamming the door close. Try as might to strain, he couldn’t hear anything else in the school anymore but silence as Callahan returned his gun. As quietly as they could, he and Callahan piled desks and chairs in front of the door. The bookshelf was tempting, but Powell ruled it out. Callahan was already winded, hunched over and gasping for breath as the wrapping on his leg was staining with fresh red.<br/>
</p><p>Powell sighed, “oh no,” as he looked over the others. Dustin was holding a bag he pulled from somewhere and Powell was torn between pride that Lucas was defiant enough to hold up a slingshot ready towards the door and despair that the boy thought it would accomplish anything. Beyond them, his eyes fell on El, shuddering for breath with her eyes closed, noticing that she was also still bleeding from her nose sluggishly. He dragged Callahan back, ignoring his spluttered complaints. “Flo, get a window open, we need to –“<br/>
</p><p>From the other side of the door, the Demogorgon screamed and smashed the door. Its hinges whined as they popped off the frame and the jumble of furniture shook, shedding a chair. The sound of it tumbling triggered another ear splitting screech that set the fine hairs along Powell’s arm straight with a tingle.<br/>
</p><p>Even as Flo climbed atop a counter along the wall of the science room they holed up in, Powell knew they were out of time. “Get back kids.” Powell muttered low. He couldn’t bear to look back, hoping against hope that Flo would get them out. She was slowly forcing the old window up to admit a blast of cold night air, but the door shook and several more desks and chairs were knocked off as their makeshift barricade fell apart.<br/>
</p><p>Callahan hobbled up next to him, gun ready and eyes bleak behind his glasses as he nodded to Powell. “It’s been an honor to serve with you Powell.”<br/>
</p><p>It hurt Powell to think about that. He was getting on his years, his parents dead and somewhat estranged from his sister. Callahan was still in his prime, still should have a lot ahead of him. “You shouldn’t be dying like this son,” he sighed miserably.<br/>
</p><p>Some of Callahan’s rude spirit came back once he said that. “Neither should you,” he said softly, but sharply with reproach. He bumped elbows companionably with Powell.<br/>
</p><p>Then the door fell apart. “Hold your fire,” Powell ordered crisply. Callahan was already braced and waiting for a clear shot as the Demogorgon clawed its way in, so the order fell on Lucas as a pebble pinged off the door frame. Powell sweat in fear and dread as Flo continued shoving at the window frame with a desperate prayer.<br/>
</p><p>Then the Demogorgon finally shoved its way through the mess of furniture.<br/>
</p><p>“Fire!” he barked. He and Callahan unloaded, most of the bullets hitting the mark along with a good number of Lucas’s stones.<br/>
</p><p>Through it all, the Demogorgon hissed and its face opened up, startling the officers who got their first look at the rows of teeth along its flaps of skin.<br/>
</p><p>Callahan yelled incomprehensibly back, as the kids hollered panic and encouragement alternatingly to use the “wrist rocket.” Powell’s body felt numb as he considered throwing himself at the Demogorgan. How much time would that buy Flo, the kids? Dare he ask Callahan to do the same? A distant part of his mind logically said that the Demogorgan would just follow the blood scent and hunt Callahan and anyone with him down. It made sense for the younger officer to buy them time. Powell, horrified, stomped the notion out of thought.<br/>
</p><p>Powell’s lips felt numb as he prepared to tell Callahan to watch over everyone. They didn’t have many more shots left.<br/>
</p><p>Abruptly the Demogorgon flew back and slammed into the wall with a keening cry. It was enough to shock them all into silent inaction. That was until Mike reverently whispered, “El.” Powell and Callahan parted as shaking, chapped hands gently pushed at them with firm resolution.<br/>
</p><p>“Kid,” Powell choked, the word sounded like a wounded gasp.<br/>
</p><p>El took another unsteady step forward, blood running from both nostrils as she faced the monster that wailed thickly at them. When El paused for breath, shuddering, the Demogorgon also fell to the ground, making a curious wheezing sound as it coughed up a single pebble. Then it roared at them.<br/>
</p><p>El screamed back, throwing up both arms as the Demogorgon flew up against the wall again, pinned like a fly on the wall. The monster shrieked and fought against El’s hold, its limbs and head flailing for all that El kept pushing it back against the wall. El kept screaming her defiance at the monster as the Demogorgon sank into the wall with an audible crunch that sent dust into the air.<br/>
</p><p>Despite that, the Demogorgon and El were clearly visible. It took a moment for the others to realize that the two were glowing, the white light around them quickly brightening until the two were beacons.<br/>
</p><p>“Kid!” “El!” Callahan and Mike called out, trying to shield their eyes as the light became piercing, blinding.<br/>
</p><p>The Demogorgon wailed as light ruptured along its skin in patches, losing its form to the light. For the first time, the Demogorgon seemed scared as it sniffled and wailed as spot after spot all over its body bled more light.<br/>
</p><p>“Eleven stop!”<br/>
</p><p>Mike’s frantic voice broke through, and El finally fell silent. As she turned, they could see that she was breaking apart into light too. She turned and gave them a small nod. “Goodbye, Mike.” She turned back to the Demogorgon before Mike could gather himself to protest again and a fresh surge of light to an even brighter intensity sent the others flinching back, averting their gazes.<br/>
</p><p>El wasn’t sure she could see it anymore herself, all that she knew was the struggle of a weakening body against her own faltering power and the shrill wailing of the Demogorgon. “No more.” She whispered and fed more of herself into the light.<br/>
</p><p>The very air hummed, quickly drowning out the Demogorgon’s wail and El’s determined cry of effort. The others felt more than saw the white light as a pulse of air forced them to their knees and made the room shake.<br/>
</p><p>Mike was the first to his feet as he blinked, looking past the spots in his vision. “El? El?” There was a Demogorgan sized hole in the wall where everything and the ground before it where El stood had been crushed into rubble. Of the two, there was no trace. “El? Where are you?”</p><p> </p><p>Jonathan appeared at Nancy’s side, his expression frustrated by their lack of success. Then the Demogorgon’s cry ripped through the thick walls of the house and he gestured at Steve and Nancy to get a move on. The trap failed. They had to get out.<br/>
</p><p>Steve took a step forward, ready to drag Barb along out of there when she shook her head, tears of both fear and anger leaking down her face. She fought Steve’s iron grip on her arm. “Steve!” she finally smacked his arm with the empty shotgun and Steve hissed, breaking his grip on her wrist as he pulled back.<br/>
</p><p>“Barb, what the hell? We need to go!” Steve reached for her arm again.<br/>
</p><p>Instead, the girl unshouldered her bag and pulled out a half-spilled Molotov cocktail. She handed it to Steve, and then pulled out one more thing, a round, gray globe of metal as big as her head. She looked up at from it to Steve with a hesitant question in her eyes. He looked down at it, then back at her. Then his chin set and nodded. “Do it,” he said in a whisper. Barb dropped the shotgun to get a grip and fought the hangnail she picked up somewhere to turn the handle on the metal tank.<br/>
</p><p>Behind them, the Demogorgan knocked the door of the room it attacked them from clean out of its frame and faced them. It made more of a racket than ever before, face opened up fully and trembling as Steve and Barb stared, helpless to get away as it crouched.<br/>
</p><p>“Guys!” Nancy screamed as Jonathan grabbed her by the shoulders, “Guys! RUN!”<br/>
</p><p>The Demogorgan tensed and then exploded into motion, its clawed arms out and reaching for either teenager as its mouth opened in preparation to bite down.<br/>
</p><p>Then the Demogorgan slammed into the ground as its next step went right on the bear trap and iron jaws clamped deep through the viscera on its skin. It shrieked as Barb and Steve, gripping each other, turned to look at the other, then down. Barb, almost gently, tossed the propane tank over to the Demogorgan as the sound of escaping gas hissed counterpoint to its enraged cries.<br/>
</p><p>“Run,” Steve commanded to Nancy and Jonathan. “RUN!” he shoved the other boy as he pulled Barb along. Barb was following right on his tail, but she kept looking back, her eyes glued to the Demogorgon as it flailed and one arm smacked the tank, making it bounce off the wall and toward them a bit.<br/>
</p><p>“What was that thing you threw, Barb?” Nancy asked desperately as they spilled out the door into Steve’s yard. “Barb?” Steve ignored her as he dropped his bat and scrabbled at his pockets.<br/>
</p><p>“Shit, shit! Where is it?!”<br/>
</p><p>Then, Barb shoved his lighter in his face. “You dropped it,” She said, her voice soft. Her eyes were still on the doorframe where she could still hear the Demogorgon raging against their trap.<br/>
</p><p>Steve took the lighter, kissed Barb on the forehead, and then lit their last Molotov. “Eat this you fucker.” Readying to throw, he whispered, “This is for you Carol.”<br/>
</p><p>As he threw the cocktail into the house, Nancy and Jonathan saw flames bloom in the air as the gas ignited. To everyone’s horror, the flames parted around the Demogorgan a few feet from the doorway. One leg was dragging behind the bear trap it tore out of the ground as it faced them and opened its mouth. It ignored the fire beginning to eat into the doorway before a dull boom sounded from within, then echoed, louder.<br/>
</p><p>Hot air pressed on them and knocked everyone over as the inside of the house’s first floor exploded. Nancy struggled to raise her head only for another explosion to blast through the first floor of the house in jets of flame. Then, they curled in on themselves, hissing as splinters and dirt rained down on them. They barely had time to process that when a crunching sound sent them scrambling to their feet. Together they watched in mute silence as the flaming wreckage of Steve’s second floor collapsed into the burnt shell of the first floor with a drawn out groaning and final crunch of wood and masonry.<br/>
</p><p>“Steve,” Jonathan rasped as the sudden silence became unbearable.<br/>
</p><p>“Your…your house…” Nancy reached for Steve only for him to start walking towards the ruins, out of her grasp, at the last moment. Barb silently followed, the others a beat after.<br/>
</p><p>As Steve, the others trailing just behind, stepped up to the flaming remnants of his house a flame roared up along the left side of the wreck with a roar. Soon the entire thing would be ablaze. Heedless of the shriveling heat and danger, the coiffed boy approached the foot of his doorstep, stopped, and looked down. The others followed his gaze to the skeletal arm of no-longer glistening, but darkly burned skin sticking out of the crushed doorway. Minutes passed as they stared at it to the backdrop of flames and not once did it move.<br/>
</p><p>“Jonathan,” Steve finally croaked. Behind him, a burnt post fell backwards into the flames with a creak. “you got a camera with you buddy?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And so concludes the first part of me sparing Barb's life. From now on, I'll take more liberties with the plots, characters, and ships, so if all people wanted to see was what I thought Barb living might have brought to the first season, thank you for joining me. Sorry for the abrupt ending, but hopefully this has been enjoyable!</p><p>Next will be a short bit of character interactions leading up to Season 2!</p><p>Mad Max Mad Max Billy Billy Billy Billy!!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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